Heero Sandwich
by Lord Raa
Summary: Nobody asked for this, especially not Heero Yuy, but here we are all the same. Prepare for a "comedy" with some adult content. If the chapters feel truncated, then you might want to look for a certain Fanfiction Forum on the (dot) net for a more complete experience.
1. Part 1

Heero Sandwich

By Lord Raa

* * *

Disclaim-me-do: The one who buggers a fire burns his penis.

* * *

Part 1

* * *

Relena Darlian sighed for the umpteenth time that day as she considered her upcoming birthday. It wasn't that she hated her father, as some of her peers did, but it was annoying that he couldn't spend much time with her.

"I guess that's the price of having an important father…" she said as she looked out over the sea. Glancing down, she noticed a figure lying on the beach.

Rushing to the shoreline, Relena saw that this figure was still breathing and dressed in a spacesuit. She removed the helmet.

"He's my age…"

A sea breeze caused the figure to stir.

"Are you hurt at all?" Relena asked as she leaned in to closer examine the young man. 'He's cute…'

"What?" the young man asked groggily.

"The ambulance will be here soon."

"Ambulance?" The young man was recovering quickly and he jumped to his feet. "Did you see?"

"What?"

"Did you see?" he repeated. Realising that he'd been spotted and capture was imminent, he tried to activate his suicide device.

It failed, barely emitting more than a bang and puff of smoke.

"Damn," the young man cursed. He looked up to see that an ambulance had arrived.

A figure washes up on a beach in a military-grade space suit? Questions would be asked. Questions that he didn't want to answer. He knew that he had to escape and this vehicle would be the best option for him.

Relena sat stunned as she watched the man, who just moments earlier had been unconscious on the sand, incapacitate three grown men with a single hit each and steal the ambulance like it was nothing more taxing than reaching for his hat and coat.

"Wow… I'm Relena Darlian, pleased to meet you," she said to the departing figure.

* * *

Later that evening, Relena sat in her room thinking about what she'd seen earlier that day.

She wanted to tell her parents, but what could she tell them? That a young man washed up upon the shore and stole an ambulance? Even if they believed her, they'd just increase the security detail that followed her.

That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but meant that boys were put off from approaching her as it was. Even the boys at school who saw themselves as ruffians and delinquents were already put off by the security detail that followed her.

The nicer options at school bored Relena. They reminded her of the world of her parents: politeness and formality and interminable dullness.

Relena undressed for bed, lamenting that the most interesting boy she'd met in a long time had run off like a scalded cat.

"If only…" she sighed as she slipped into her soft pyjamas and under the duvet. As she succumbed to fatigue, a pleasant yet overly optimistic thought entered her head. "Maybe I will see him again…"

* * *

The following day, Relena was surprised to see that same boy from the beach being introduced as her new transfer student.

"Hello, I am Heero Yuy," he said with a slight bow.

"Please take the seat next to Relena, if you have any questions, please ask her," the teach said. "Now, turn to page 174 of your textbook and we'll…"

The teacher's words washed over Relena as she watched the lithe young man take the seat next to her.

'Oh yes, he's sitting next to me… I wonder what kind of girl he likes…' the brunette pondered as she turned to the page in question.

* * *

Later on, a number of well-wishers, followers and just plain nosy people watched as Relena approached the new student with an invitation.

"Hello, Heero Yuy, I'd like you to come to my party," Relena said with a polite smile.

Heero took the white envelope and looked at it for a moment. Then he tore it into two.

Everyone watching gasped.

"Stay away from me," he said, starting to leave the scene. As he got closer to Relena, he added, "I'll kill you if you get too close."

Relena whimpered softly. The thought of being killed was horrifying, that much was certain. But yet, there was a tiny part of her mind, the part that all her bad ideas and her most savage put downs came from, that wondered perhaps this Heero Yuy might want to have a little fun before he killed her.

'He could have me here and now, in front of everyone and choke the life out of me when he's finished…' she sighed dreamily as Heero strode off into the distance. "Wa-" the call to him died in her throat as he lashed out at a boy who tried to punish him destroying the invitation.

The boy crumpled as Heero retracted his fist from his windpipe. "I will kill anyone who tries to lay a finger on me," he warned, not turning back to face the astonished crowd.

Relena looked on, wearing a confused look for those around her. Inwardly, she was pondering just how to get close to this dangerous young man without losing her life. 'I must know more about him… If only to keep people safe,' she reasoned to herself.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Relena decided that she'd take a shower before dinner. It hadn't been that hot of a day, but she felt the need to get out of her restrictive school uniform. Especially when her mind went over the way Heero Yuy had declined the invitation to her party.

'He was so cool, like he didn't care about anything…' she thought as she slipped out of her blouse. She caught a glimpse of her torso in the mirror and nodded in approval. She might not have been the bustiest girl in her school, but there was no denying her femininity.

Next her skirt came off. It was long, coming down to her ankles, giving it a retro, almost Victorian feel. Relena and her friends had joked you could hide almost anything under them if you didn't move. As she placed the garment on a hanger, a naughty thought occurred to her.

'Heero could hide under there and have his way with me… Touching me, rubbing me, kissing me…'

Blushing at such a lewd thought, Relena reached into the shower enclosure to start the flow of hot water. She removed her bra and noticed that her nipples were erect. "You shouldn't think about him like that, Relena…." she chided herself before moving to slip off her panties.

She looked down and saw the results of the several fantasies she'd had about Heero Yuy during the course of the day. It hadn't been the first time she'd had erotic thoughts, but it was the first time they'd been so vivid about one person. Shaking her head, the young woman stepped into the shower and revelled in the hot water cascading down her body.

The heat started to help her relax, but it was when she turned around to feel the water on her back that an idea popped into her head.

'That showerhead is removable…'

Relena lathered herself up with the expensive bodywash her mother insisted she use. It had a citrus scent that was pleasing to the nose. When she was covered in suds, she reached for the showerhead and started to rinse off her arms and lower legs, the force of the water making her skin tingle slightly.

Now Relena moved the showerhead to her thighs, the suds washing off to leave clean, smooth skin. She traced a finger along them, glad that she'd followed her mother's advice. As she marvelled at the softness of her skin, she lost track of the direction of the water and she felt the water flow tickle her womanhood.

"Ooh…" she gasped, not having felt that kind of stimulation before. It made Relena drop the showerhead, the water now washing her feet. She blinked and took several breaths to regain some composure. It was probably wrong of her to use the showerhead for this kind of pleasure, but it had felt so good. She needed some release from the tension Heero had caused her and this seemed like as good a way to relieve it as any.

Plus, good personal hygiene was important. Some of the older girls at school had said something along the lines of "Stanky snatches don't get licked." And while it was a crudely worded sentiment, it did hold true for a lady of her status to be clean.

Especially if she wanted Heero to like her. Reaching for the showerhead, Relena decided she wanted more from Heero than to be "liked," she wanted to be licked. The young woman directed the spray of water to her crotch, revelling in the sensation of warmth and pressure stimulating her erogenous zones.

[This scene was truncated to avoid falling afoul of the site rules on adult content.]

* * *

The following morning, Heero was taking part in fencing class. He managed to keep his disdain for the foils hidden, feeling that a proper sword would be more fitting for his skills.

His opponent, a blonde boy, stood opposite him on their assigned piste. Heero looked him over and found him unimpressive.

"I hear that you tore up an invitation to Relena's party yesterday," the blonde sneered. He put his mask on with a single, practised move. "Don't you feel ashamed of yourself, as a gentleman?"

Heero placed his own mask on and saluted with his foil. The pair started their little sparring match, with the Gundam pilot easily parrying the blonde's thrusts. The space-borne youth counter-attacked, the blade of his foil hitting that of his opponent tip on. The blonde blinked in surprise, no-one had ever done such a move in years. The odds of two blades hitting like that were remote, but Heero managed to keep his on course.

The assembled spectators looked on in surprise as Heero's blade broke dramatically causing his opponent to drop his foil, but still he continued with his thrust and pierced the visor the blonde's mask.

"You should have told me sooner. I might have given it to you."

Several of the girls there commented on the surprising strength the new student displayed so casually. Relena nodded, though her thoughts were more along the lines of having the mysterious young man carry her off for his own physical pleasures.

She caught his eye and felt a shiver down her spine. 'Heero…'

Not that the transfer student seemed to care as he strode off like he was too cool for this school.

'I must get to know him better…'

* * *

Relena prepared for her party. She knew that was likely that her father would have to leave early, but that didn't make any easier for her. Not that the party was likely to be particularly entertaining, but she had to maintain the facade that people of her family's status had. It wouldn't do for people to report that the daughter of a high ranking diplomat like the Vice-Foreign Minister was unsociable.

There was only one thing that Relena thought might make the evening entertaining – the appearance of Heero Yuy.

Not that he'd be a great party guest. He was brusque, did not display any aptitude for witty small talk or the kinds of things that would entertain the upper echelons of polite society. Though, if he was to challenge any of the guests to a duel, it'd certainly be a talking point for years to come.

The Vice-Foreign Minister's daughter pondered just what her new classmate might do if he was given free reign.

"Would he…"

"Would he do what, Relena?" Mareen Darlian asked as she saw her daughter finish her makeup and jewellery. "And who is the 'he' in question?"

"Oh, Mother, I was just…" Relena struggled to find the words to describe her thoughts. "There's a new boy at school, but he's not like the others."

"I see. Mareen nodded. "And just what is this boy like?"

"He… Well, he's a bit distant. He's only just moved to the area, so I suppose that he's not yet settled in," Relena said diplomatically. 'Best not mention the threat to kill me if I get too close.'

"It sounds like you find his mystery interesting. Did you invite him to the party?"

"I did, but he couldn't attend," the younger Darlian lied diplomatically. Her mother nodded, but there was a look in her eye that suggested that she knew the invitation hadn't gone as smoothly as 'I cannot attend your party.'

"Relena, I know that some things have to be learned the hard way, but there are times when it is best to avoid certain kinds of men. If this boy is that sort of person, leaving him alone is going to be best for you."

Relena rolled her eyes. "It's not like that, Mother."

"I'm not saying it is. I'm just saying that it's best to keep your distance from some people."

* * *

Heero began what he thought would be the last phase of his mission: Destroy the Gundam. He sped towards the marina in the ambulance he had liberated a few days earlier. He was aware of his surroundings, and so noticed the small red moped racing in the same direction, but paid no mind to its rider.

The moped took the off-ramp, allowing the rider to get a glimpse of the driver next to him.

"That looks like Heero Yuy…. But it can't be him…" the rider thought. He shook his head. "I don't time to worry about that, I'm late for Relena's party."

Heero continued with his journey, uncaring for the other road users around him. He had a task to complete. If the Wing Gundam fell into enemy hands, all would be lost. He had other orders for disrupting the United Earth Sphere's military while Earthside. Orders that would be still achievable despite the loss of his state-of-the-art mobile suit.

Heero expected being able to indulge in some minor sabotage work in the area, with some work further afield as when the opportunity arose. It seemed a shame, but those were the standing orders.

Unless he found some way to recover the Gundam, but that looked rather unlikely given his current situation.

The local UES naval base would mean patrols and those patrols prohibited the extended maritime activities required to find a mobile suit. Assuming that they weren't looking for it themselves, and then they had the resources to spend on such an operation.

* * *

At her birthday party, Relena looked shocked when she heard that one of her guests had seen Heero Yuy driving towards the Marina.

"Are you sure?"

"If it wasn't him, he's got a twin brother in the city," the blonde youth said.

"I see…" Relena looked around the party. It wasn't exactly unpleasant, just not what she wanted. "I… Excuse me, I have to go attend to something. Please, continue the party in my absence."

There was some comment about this unorthodox behaviour, but it was quickly explained away by a somewhat absent father regularly departing on a moment's notice.

The Darlian daughter called for the family chauffeur. "Pagan, I need to you to drive me to the Marina. It's an emergency."

"Very well, Miss. I'll get the car."

* * *

A short while later, Relena's car approached the waterfront and saw a lithe figure preparing something.

"That's him, Pagan. I need to get out now!"

"Of course," the grey-haired man said, pulling the car up by the side of the road.

Relena leapt out from the car and rushed to where her classmate was standing.

"HEERO!" she called out.

The Gundam pilot shook his head when he heard a familiar voice. He turned to face the most annoying girl in his class. "What do you want?"

"I… Why are you here? Why are you doing this?"

"Because I have to," Heero said, pulling out a pistol and aiming at the nosy girl. "Why are you here? I told you I'd kill you if you got too close."

"I…"

A shot rang out, the bullet cutting a centimetre into Heero's left arm.

"Back off, buddy. Anyone can see who the bad guy is here," a voice belonging to a young man called out.

"What are you doing here?" Heero asked through gritted teeth.

"I should ask you the same thing," the youth in a dark outfit and hat replied. "Pointing guns at cute girls is pretty low."

Heero saw that the gun he'd dropped was nearby and he lunged for it.

"Uh-huh," the interloper chided, firing off another round to knock the gun out of Heero's reach.

As fate would have it, the pistol landed near Relena's feet. She reached down and picked it up.

"Lady, put that down. It's dangerous."

Relena looked at the weapon. She'd heard about them, seen them in movies and television, but this was her first time handling a firearm. Its potential to hurt people scared her, but the thought of this person trying to kill Heero annoyed her more for some reason.

Heero Yuy hadn't displayed anything other than contempt for her, and yet she had fantasised about him claiming her for his own. Using her for his pleasures, no matter how lewd they were, and discarding her when he was bored.

The brunette's gaze kept darting between the two boys before her. What should she do? Who could she trust – the strange boy pointing a gun at her or the one who had actually threatened her.

"Lady, trust me, I can get you out of here unharmed."

Relena turned to Heero. "And you?"

"Out of thanks, I won't kill you tonight," Heero replied. The best plan he'd come up with was to get the gun from Relena, dispatch this idiot and then destroy his Gundam.

The sound of two mobile suits surfacing attracted everyone's attention.

"Damn it, I must've miscalculated the tides," the long-haired boy said, glancing at his watch. He reached behind his back and brought out a magnesium flare and activated it. "Walk away, Lady."

Relena gently tossed the gun to Heero. "Do what you have to, Heero."

The Gundam pilot smiled, turned and fired off three rounds at the youth with the flare. He didn't manage to hit the boy, thanks to his reflexes, but did take off the bottom three inches of his braid.

In the commotion, Heero lunged for the controls and launched the torpedoes he'd prepared.

"What are you doing?" the long haired boy demanded as the trio of explosive devices sped towards the mobile suits, much to his dismay.

"Completing my mission," Heero said as he collapsed on the deck of the boat.

The torpedoes detonated against the mobile suits, sinking them again but not destroying them.

The still conscious boy saw that blue lights approaching and decided that he would get the Gundams another day. "Damn it!"

Relena just ignored him, instead tending to her injured classmate.

* * *

To be continued…

There is a more complete version of this chapter to be found elsewhere on the internet. I'm sure that if you look hard enough, you can find the forum it is on.


	2. Part 2

Heero Sandwich

By Lord Raa

* * *

Disclaim-me-do: Never get between an Anon and his lewds

* * *

Part 2

* * *

Heero Yuy gently stirred from his sleep. His instincts told him he was not in his usual bed and a brief flex of his arms told him that he was restrained. He opened an eye for more information.

'I'm in a building… Hospital? Yes, that makes sense, I was shot last night by that idiot with a braid. Wait, how did I get here?' he asked himself. When the pilot noticed a camera, he closed his eyes and pretended to go back to sleep. 'Now is not the time to panic. I'll figure out an escape plan soon enough. I just need to resist their interrogation.'

Maintaining a calm that would impress a Zen monk, Heero reflected on what he remembered from the previous night. One, his plan to destroy his Gundam had failed. Two, that idiot with the braid had attempted to steal it. Three, that same idiot had shot him. The last person who'd shot him had died a painful death. Four, that annoying girl from school, Relena, had been there.

'Was she the reason why I'm in the hospital? Did she save my life?' Heero wondered. 'Why? I warned her that I would kill her if she got too close. Everyone at school knows that I'm strong and not to be trifled with.'

The door opened and a woman walked in. She approached the secured pilot.

"Young man, you need to wake up. We have several questions for you."

Heero remained still, causing the woman to frown. His feigned unconsciousness was his best defence against interrogation.

"I'm Major Sally Po. I need to ask you some questions," the woman said, hoping that introducing herself would help the young man decide that it was safe to respond.

There was no response, but rather than get angry, the Major shook her head. The young man would come around at some point. After leaning in to get a closer look at the restrained youth.

Sally noticed that he had a lean body that highlighted his muscles, and a number of small scars that seemed to suggest his short life had been filled with a number of hardships. A glance at his hands told her that he could handle himself in a fight; she'd seen those callouses on experienced soldiers. His face showed a defiance in its relaxed state, like it was challenging her to try her hand against him. Instinct told the Major that it wasn't arrogance on his face, more of a confidence in his abilities.

"Just who are you, 'Heero Yuy'?"

The door opened and in came a nurse to check up on the patient. Major stepped aside for the young nurse, and noticed a small tube leading from under his bedsheet.

"What's that tube?"

The nurse turned to the soldier. "It's a catheter."

"A what?"

"Catheter," the nurse repeated. "It's to allow patients to pass urine without getting up from their bed. Given that he was unconscious and you're keeping him restrained, it was deemed necessary."

"I see," the Major nodded. "So, when do you think he'll be awake?"

"I couldn't say, but he should be awake soon."

* * *

A short while later, instinct cause Heero to stir again, he opened an eye looked at the monitor that displayed a familiar face.

'Not him again….'

The face was speaking, though the sound was off and Heero had to lip-read in order to understand what this irritation wanted.

"¬I see that you've got some control over your heart-rate and brainwaves. Impressive. I'd bet that a guy like you with such controls can read lips.¬"

'Indeed I can,' Heero thought. He rolled his eyes to show that he wanted this fellow Gundam pilot to hurry up and make his point.

"¬I'm going to get you out of here. Stand by.¬"

* * *

At the hospital reception desk, Relena was not having much success with the staff in her attempts to visit Heero.

"No visitors? He's that hurt?"

"Sorry," the receptionist replied.

As Relena turned sadly around, her attention was drawn to a woman in a military uniform standing a metre or so away.

"You must be the girl who brought him in."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Major Sally and if you'd like to follow me, I can help you."

Relena frowned for a moment, but agreed to accompany the Major to visit Heero.

When they were in the elevator, Major Sally asked Relena's name.

"Relena Darlian."

"As in Vice-Foreign Minister Darlian?"

"I'm his disobedient daughter," Relena said petulantly.

"Is everything alright, Relena?"

"I… It was my birthday party yesterday and my father had to leave early."

Sally nodded in understanding. It wouldn't have been the first time a daughter had missed her father's presence in her formative years and acted out. "So, what can you tell me about Heero Yuy?"

"Quite a lot," Relena lied. "We are classmates, after all."

"Really?" the Major asked, hope rising that she could get some answers about the mysterious young man. "So, what was he doing last night for him to be shot?"

"I… Well, he was…" As the younger woman stalled for time, an explosion rocked the building.

* * *

In the room where Heero Yuy was being held, a large hole in the wall appeared, courtesy of the shaped charge from Duo Maxwell.

"It's a jailbreak!" the long-haired pilot declared. He rushed over to the bed and started to fumble with the straps.

A hand attached to a bloodied forearm reached down. "Give me your knife and I'll cut the straps."

Duo looked at the arm in amazement. "You've got some guts, pal."

Heero said nothing as he was handed the knife and freed himself. Gritting his teeth, he pulled out the catheter. It was a pain he'd never experienced before and never wanted to experience it again.

"Ouch…" Duo winced when he saw where the clear plastic tube was being removed from. After averting his eyes, he spoke again. "Look, take this parachute and jump out the window."

"Hmm…" was Heero's reply as he looked at the backpack that had been handed to him. He looked at the blade and how his rescuer was open for an attack. 'He did shoot you. If he hadn't done that, you wouldn't have had to come here. If you hadn't come here, they wouldn't have shoved that tube up you. A quick thrust to the spine will be enough. Don't even have to twist it to punish him.'

He was about to follow up on his urge for vengeance when the door burst open and that Major who'd been waiting for him to wake up and Relena ran in.

"Heero!"

'Not her again… She's so annoying.'

"Time to go, Heero!" the long-haired pilot declared as he jumped out the window to freedom.

Heero was tempted to jump out the window without the parachute. Death would be a nice break from the unpleasantness of his past few days. That said, he did feel a little guilty about leaving his Gundam intact and his mission incomplete.

"What are you doing, Heero?" Relena asked.

"Debating the merits of falling to my death," the Gundam pilot answered truthfully.

Major Sally stepped closer to Heero. "Young man, Heero Yuy, you don't have to do that."

"You're quite right. I could open an artery right here," the calm young man said, showing the two women his knife and a forearm.

"Please don't do that," Relena begged. "I…"

Heero looked over the two and nodded. In the blink of an eye, he crossed the gap to Relena and held the blade to her throat. "Now, I believe that you want me to get out of here safely. It wouldn't do for me to fall and plunge this blade into her neck or heart, would it?"

Major Sally Po swallowed nervously. Heero had an excellent point; heads would roll if the Vice-Foreign Minister's daughter was killed in this hostage situation.

Relena looked calm as the boy held her close to use her as a human shield. "H-Heero, we can talk about what you want."

"I want to get out of here. We're going to take a walk and no-one is going to bother us."

"But…."

"I have done nothing wrong. I was shot, imprisoned without charge, sexually assaulted and nearly blown up."

"S-sexually assaulted?" the younger woman asked. Her mind started to ponder the situation. Had Heero been assaulted before? Was he used to this sort of thing? Was it why he was so distant and uncaring?

"What else would you call having a tube shoved up your dick?" Heero answered. "I didn't ask for that."

"We can talk about this, Heero," Sally insisted. "You don't have to threaten Relena."

"Are you offering yourself up as a hostage?"

"Yes."

"Come here then. Relena, take her sidearm."

'Heero is so manly when he's like this…' Relena thought as she did as ordered. "Where do you want this gun?"

"Keep it pointed at the Major, the three of us are walking out of here," Heero instructed.

* * *

On the ground, Duo Maxwell was waiting for Heero to jump from the building.

"Did he get hurt? I didn't hear any shots."

As the window of opportunity for escape on his boat was starting to close, Duo considered just how long he could afford to wait for Heero. There was a commotion as several police cars raced to the scene.

'Damn it…. I can't wait any longer. You're on your own, Heero.'

* * *

The journey down the stairwell happened in relative silence. Heero was a man of few words; Relena trying to rationalise how she felt about the dangerous, yet alluring young man who held a knife to her throat and Sally was formulating an escape plan for her and Relena.

"They're going to be looking for the three of us," Sally said as the trio reached the exit for the third floor. "They'll be looking to account for everyone in the building."

"OK, so we'll put the weapons down and walk out of here like normal people," Relena suggested.

"You both know too much," Heero said.

The door below them opened and a number of people filed out in a hurried but orderly fashion.

The Major reacted quickly. "If you kill us, you'll draw more attention and you won't be able to escape," she offered.

"…" the Gundam pilot didn't like it, but Sally was right. "Fine, go ahead without us, I need to talk to Relena first."

Relena's heart started to race. "H-Heero?"

When they were alone, Heero lowered the blade and turned his human shield to face him. He placed his right hand over her throat and applied pressure. It was hard enough to give the girl difficulty breathing and leave a hand-shaped mark, but not enough to do any permanent damage.

"Remember that to kill you, all I have to do is squeeze," Heero growled. He dropped his hand from the girl's windpipe. "Keep. Your. Distance."

Relena whimpered softly as the most dangerous person she knew walked away as if their encounter was passing each other in the street and not a threat of violence if she got too close to him.

"Heero… I'm yours to do with as you please…" the brunette whispered, half-hoping that he would hear her and take her up on her offer.

The sounds of people filing out of the building shook her from her reverie and she followed the stream of evacuees to the street.

* * *

Heero Yuy had managed to get to the beach without any trouble. The crowds surrounding the hospital were more focused on helping the sick and injured than they were on the likes of him. As far a he was concerned, Major Po and Relena Darlian were not going to bother him for a while and that just meant he could complete his mission with greater efficiency.

When he reached the shoreline, he noticed that a figure dressed in a familiar dark outfit and hat was looking in his direction. Realising that this was his best chance to recover his Gundam, he waved at the boat and started to wade into the water. It had been a while since he last swam, but it was not a skill that he'd lost thanks to that amphibious combat training course he'd taken.

As Heero started his front crawl towards the boat, he idly pondered just where to place the charges to scupper the vessel with a minimal amount of plastic explosives. He allowed himself a small smile as he entertained the thought of that irritating boy drowning amidst the twisted steel hull.

* * *

Duo Maxwell watched the figure of Heero Yuy start swimming towards his boat.

'That absolute madman,' he thought as the lithe figure appeared to pull himself forward against the local currents.

There was something unsettling about the other Gundam pilot. It wasn't that he lacked charm or warmth, as Duo knew many people who could not be described as "people persons" and he was able to work with them. It wasn't that Heero was a soldier, as Duo was one himself.

No, it was something else.

Then it occurred to him.

"Serial killer… That guy's like a serial killer!"

"What's that, kid?" one of boat's crew asked.

"Nothing. Just… that… How can I put it? You see that guy swimming towards us?"

"Yeah."

"There's something not right about him," Duo said. "He's a Gundam pilot, but I don't know about him. Tell everyone to keep their distance from him. Not give him the cold shoulder, just let him do his thing away from everyone else."

"Gotcha."

* * *

Ten minutes later, Heero was being pulled upwards onto the deck of the boat.

"What took you so long?" Duo asked with a grin.

"Had to take care of something," Heero replied tersely. "You recovered the Gundams yet?"

"We're about to start. Jeez, what's it take for you to take a day off work?"

"Sorry. I've been in a bit of a bad mood since you shot me," the antisocial pilot replied.

"It wasn't a serious wound," Duo scoffed.

Heero's eyes narrowed for a moment, then he pulled out the knife he'd used to cut himself free from the table. "Here's your knife back. It's a nice blade, but you're not very good at sharpening it."

The long-haired pilot rolled his eyes. "And I suppose that you're a master at preparing every weapon?"

"No, just better than you."

The two youths stared at each other, willing the other to back away first. Fortunately for them, one of the crew called out and interrupted their contest by telling them that they were on top of the Gundams.

"I think we got off on the wrong foot," Duo said. "I'm Duo Maxwell."

"Heero Yuy, but you knew that. I don't like you. You're too loud and obnoxious. You also shot me and because of that, they shoved a tube up my dick. But you did help me escape and recover my Gundam so we're even."

'At least he's not trying anything…' Duo shook his head. "Alright, Heero Yuy, we're even."

* * *

Outside the hospital, Relena was repeating her version of what had happened to her to the press.

"It was a terrorist incident," she said sadly. "To think that a hospital would be a target like that…"

"Do you know what the terrorist wanted?"

"I think it was to do with the explosion in the Marina yesterday. The military had a suspect in custody, but the terrorist attacked to free their comrade," Relena said, spinning a tale that would impress a writer of TV dramas. "One fled through the window with some kind of device, I didn't see it very clearly, so can't describe it to you properly, sorry."

"And the other?"

"He… he was the one that grabbed me by the throat," the girl said. Emotion was creeping into her voice, just not the emotion the reporter thought. "I… I'm sorry, but to be manhandled like that was like nothing else I'd ever experienced."

"I'm sorry, Miss Darlian," the reporter apologised for stirring up trauma in a teenaged girl.

The camera zoomed into to get an a close up of the hand-shaped mark on Relena's throat. It looked like it had been mere millimetres from ending her life.

"It's alright. I will wear it as mark of pride. I may be a teenage girl, but I will not be cowed by terrorists," Relena said defiantly.

"Do you think you were targeted because of who your father is?"

"I… I wouldn't know, I couldn't say. Now, I h-have to go."

"Thank you, Miss Relena Darlian."

* * *

As she entered her home, Relena winced at the reaction from her parents, Harry and Mareen.

"Relena, are you alright?" Mareen asked she rushed to her daughter.

"I'm fine, Mother."

"Relena…" Harry said, embracing his daughter protectively. When he felt sure that she was reassured, he took a step back and held her at arm's length. "Relena, what happened?"

"I… was visiting someone at the hospital when a terrorist attacked."

"Is your friend alright?" the bearded man asked.

"Yes. They're fine." Relena's answer was deliberately vague about the identity of the person she was visiting.

"I… I can't believe that you got injured because of me," Harry said, tears forming in his eyes. "I'll draw up my resignation letter now."

"No, father," Relena insisted. "We don't know what they wanted. I might have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. The authorities are searching for the terrorists as we speak, I'm sure that they'll bring them to justice."

The married Darlians were unconvinced. Mareen took a deep breath. "But what about your throat, Relena?"

"I'm fine, Mother, we Darlians are made of sterner stuff than the average person. It will heal in a day or two and a few red marks to show that I will not change my life because of a few thugs with knives is a small price to pay for reassuring the public."

Harry gave a forced smile before turning to his wife. He knew that they had to tell Relena the truth about her heritage one day, but today?

When Mareen shook her head, Harry nodded in understanding. Today had been traumatic enough for Relena without her having to learn about her adoption as well.

"Relena, I'm going on a trip soon and in order to keep you safe, I want you to come with me."

Relena was torn. It was some time with her father, though it would probably end up with them going out to dinner on one evening on this trip, but it was also time away from Heero. Not that she knew what Heero was up to or if she would even see him again.

What she did know was that she wanted to see him again. Preferably without other people around her. They wouldn't understand or approve of their relationship. They'd see it as something dangerous or improper and make her parents intervene. Whereas Relena knew it was something so very different, a pure love where he would claim her like the prize she was and she would submit to the strength of the most dangerous man she knew in order to satisfy his needs.

"I insist you go with your father, Relena."

In the contest of heart versus head, head won out this time. It would also get her away from school. The fussing over her from her friends would get tedious when they saw the mark on her throat.

"Very well, Father. Mother, I… I think I need to talk to you in private."

Harry's eyes widened as his mind went to the worst case scenario. "D-did…"

"No, Father, it's not about today, it's about… feelings…"

The bearded man calmed down and nodded. He let out a sigh of relief. "Well, you know if you need us, we'll help you as best we can, Relena."

"Thank you, Father. Now, I think I should take some time to have a bath to relax and gather my thoughts," the young Darlian smiled. It would give her a chance to think about Heero while she was naked again.

* * *

Relena was now feeling quite relaxed. Her fingers had played a great part in this as she fantasised about Heero Yuy. He had been a regular feature of her dreams since she'd met the mysterious young man a few days ago.

Dreams that had varied from a traditional encounter where he would be a gentleman that her parents approved of thanks to his skills and manners to him breaking into her house and stealing her away to have his way with her in his sex dungeon.

'Today was the first time he touched me…' the Darlian daughter mused. Sure, it had been in a violent manner, leaving a mark on her throat as a warning that she should stay away from him, but surely that was just him playing hard to get.

Heero was a dangerous young man, one that Relena knew she couldn't hope to defeat in a fight. If he wanted something from her, she would have no chance to fend him off.

So why didn't he want her?

Relena looked at her reflection. She was attractive, with her good hair and bone structure. She was kind and popular with both boys and girls. Her figure was feminine and she came from a good family that had a lot of money. In summary, Relena Darlian was the best option in a field of excellent choices.

But what kind of person did Heero want? He was handsome enough to have his choice of women, but he treated everyone with a disdain that suggested he was bored with them and their antics. Heero was the epitome of the serious young man.

"Can he even relax?" Relena asked herself with a sigh. There was a knock on the door. "Come in."

Mareen Darlian entered with a tray of small sandwiches and a pot of tea.

"I thought you could do with a light snack rather than a full dinner," Mareen smiled. "You need to eat something, but if it's too rich, you'll feel sick."

Relena nodded. Her mother was wise.

"So, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"I… I think I like a boy at school. But how do I know if it's love or just a crush? And if it is love, how do I get him to notice me?"

Mareen nodded as she poured two cups of tea. "Well, that's good question. I went through the same thing when I was your age. There were a number handsome young men at my university. All of them would have made fine boyfriends."

"So how did you decide on Father?" Relena asked as she reached for a cucumber sandwich.

"That's a story for another time," the older woman said diplomatically. Her daughter didn't need to know about that time in her life and her membership of certain clubs. Certainly not at the age of 15. "But as for helping make that decision, I got to know these better."

That was another diplomatically worded phrase. Certain social gatherings had played a part of her unmarried life. The preferred term was "masquerade." "Masked balls" were another kind of function. Though, certainly not an unpleasant evening if they were hosted, and indeed, hoisted, correctly.

Regardless of her own actions, it wasn't appropriate for Relena to attend such social functions.

"You should spend time with the boy. Maybe have lunch with him at school so you can get to know him, find out his interests. You may find that you have nothing in common, or worse still, he doesn't like you. Doing this would stop you from wasting time and effort."

Relena blinked. Could it be that Heero didn't like her? That his words really were him telling her to leave him alone?

Mareen observed the change in her daughter's expression. "You're not sure if he likes you. Well, you should invite him to lunch at school. Just the two of you at the table, but with others around."

"What if he says no? He's not nearly as friendly as the other boys at school."

"He might not be able to make it before you have to leave with your father, but if he outright declines, then he's not worth your time, Relena. It's as simple as that," Mareen said as she rose to leave the room. "Chasing after a boy who isn't willing to have lunch with you is only going to lead pain and heartache."

"Thank you, Mother," Relena nodded. Heero did seem to be quite busy, so just saying "now or never" wouldn't work with him. "I think I know how to proceed."

"That's good to hear. Now, get some rest, you've had quite the day."

* * *

Heero was working on his Gundam in silence. His fingers flew over the keyboard, making a pleasant noise that enabled him to focus on his task at hand. It was helping him find a rhythm.

What wasn't helping was the incessant talking from that idiot with the long braided hair.

"You need parts!"

Heero looked down at Duo, who'd just climbed up on the Wing Gundam. "What are you talking about now?"

"You need parts, even the best mechanics in the world need parts to fix things!" The talkative pilot said, taking a seat on the mobile suit.

"Are you going to comment on wet nature of water, too?"

"What?" Duo asked. "Was that sarcasm?"

"Does it matter?"

"Well, yeah! It means you're not a machine!" Deathscythe's pilot said, jumping to his feet.

Heero took a deep breath. 'Maybe I should have killed him at the hospital when I had the chance…' "I understand sarcasm and I am familiar with irony. Now, if you're not going to be quiet, go away."

Duo sighed in defeat. "Fine, I'll leave you alone."

* * *

The following morning, Duo noticed that Heero's Gundam was up and moving.

"He did it… He fixed his Gundam in a single night!"

Duo was amazed that one, Heero had been able to keep going through the night, and two, he'd managed to repair his complicated mobile suit without any parts.

Just as the Wing Gundam took off, one of the mechanics shouted for Duo's attention. "He taken the parts from this Gundam!"

"What?" the long-haired youth asked as he turned to see what the technicians were talking about.

Deathscythe had been cannibalised for parts, with the head now disconnected. "That traitor!"

Inside his cockpit, Heero laughed as the mobile suit changed into Bird Mode and sped away.

* * *

At school, Heero Yuy was conspicuous by his absence. This scuppered Relena's plan to ask him to lunch.

Most of the student population were starting to wonder about the mysterious transfer student and as such, several rumours were starting to circulate.

The first rumour to be spread was that Heero had been killed during the terrorist attack on the hospital. Relena had quashed that one herself with an embellishment about having seen him since.

Next off the rumour mill was the notion that Heero had actually been arrested for his cruel treatment of Relena. Many of the students lacked a full understanding of the law and believed that Relena's father could have someone arrested for mistreating his daughter.

But the best, most popular rumour was that Heero was actually a spy of some kind. There was evidence to support this, given Heero had skills that his classmates lacked, like his aptitude at horse-riding and fencing, and he tried to keep people away, as if he was in position of many secrets.

It was the one that Relena considered the most realistic. Heero was a man capable of violence and he valued his privacy more than anything else.

"Was Heero ever going to be 'the Spy Who Loved Me'?" the young Darlian lamented when she learned that the object of her obsession wasn't attending school that day. Taking a deep breath the brunette suppressed her disappointment and informed the school that she would be taking a leave of absence for a few days to attend a trip with her father.

* * *

To be continued…

No naughtiness in this installment, but there may be some next time.


	3. Part 3

Heero Sandwich

By Lord Raa

* * *

Disclaim-me-do: Eyes are the whores of our sensory organs.

* * *

Part 3

* * *

Disaster.

That was the only word Relena could use to describe the situation. The act of returning a lost item had revealed that the woman who had bothered her father on the shuttle out to the colony had resulted in Relena's world being shattered. A few seconds later, and Relena would have been blown to pieces by the bomb Lady Une had brought with her.

Relena's father lay on the floor, debris on top of him. His daughter rushed to his aid.

"Father…"

"Relena… You have to get out of here… It's not safe," Harry gasped.

"Don't worry, Father, I'll get you to a hospital," Relena insisted.

"OZ forces will already be at the hospital," a man with a submachine gun said as he scanned the room for other survivors.

"No other survivors, just the Vice-Foreign Minister," another said, having removed the diplomat from the debris. He hoisted the injured man into a fireman's carry. "We have to get out of here."

"Come with us if you want to live," the armed man said, gesturing to the exit with his head.

Not knowing what else to do, Relena followed them to their escape vehicle.

* * *

During the journey to the hideout, Harry Darlian started to stir.

"Relena…"

"I'm here, Father."

"Relena, there's something I need to tell you. I… I'm not your father…"

The teenager blinked. "W-what?"

"I… Long ago, I worked for the government of the Sanc Kingdom. There was an attack by the UES and your parents, the royal family of the Sanc Kingdom were killed. I… I took you in as my daughter when I fled the fighting."

"No… that's not possible," Relena insisted, tears flowing from her eyes.

"It's true, Relena… You're heir to the throne of the Sanc Kingdom. I… I'm sorry for lying to you for all these years…" the injured man trailed off as he lost consciousness.

"Father…"

* * *

A little later, Relena had realised that she needed to escape from the men who'd kidnapped her father. Glancing at the sidearm of one of them, she took it and started to point it at the men around her.

"Heero Yuy would kill you all without breaking a sweat," she said as she alternated who she pointed the weapon at.

"Did you say Heero Yuy?" a man with a prosthetic arm asked.

"You know Heero?"

"Oh yes, I know him very well. Put the gun down and we can talk about this like civilised people. We'll even take you out of here," the old man smiled as the gripping mechanism in his arm operated.

Relena nodded and placed the firearm on the ground. "So, which car are we taking?"

"This one. I am Doctor J," the old man introduced himself.

In the car, the scientist said that he knew about Heero Yuy and that he was an agent of theirs.

"I knew it!" Relena exclaimed. "I knew he was more than just an ordinary boy!"

"We raised him to be an assassin, he's the most dangerous young man on Earth right now," Doctor J smiled proudly.

"Assassin? But I thought you wanted peace?"

"Wars start and end with people. If you take out the people who want war, then peace will be inevitable."

Relena was sceptical about that philosophy. "What do you know about the Sanc Kingdom?"

"They were pacifists deeply committed to peace above all. Unfortunately, it was that commitment to peace that meant the UES could roll right over them. It was a slaughter," the scientist recalled sadly. "If we'd had Heero Yuy back then, we could have prevented it."

"By killing people?"

"Think of less like killing people, young lady, and more like surgery. A man like Heero Yuy is like a surgeon with a laser scalpel, able to remove the tumour that is a warmongering element and allowing the patient to survive," Doctor J insisted.

Relena remained unconvinced, but dropped the matter. She turned to face out the window. "W-would you have killed me?"

"No," the old man answered truthfully. He looked Relena in the eye when she turned to face him. "You have that same look in your eye as Heero Yuy. Believe it or not, he's a very kind-hearted young man."

The teenager blinked. "A kind-hearted assassin?"

The car pulled to a stop at its destination. "The people here can get you back to Earth safely, Miss Darlian. Stay away from Heero Yuy if you value your life."

* * *

Heero Yuy looked at the radar screen when it showed a new contact.

"What the?" he said as he turned to get a better look at the mobile suit. "No… Not you again!"

The new contact was not just any mobile suit, but the Gundam Deathscythe. And that meant Duo Maxwell was here.

"What do you want?" Heero asked into the comms system.

"¬Well, well, well, I guess that we meet again.¬"

Heero's hands twitched and moved his Gundam's right arm to point the beam cannon in the same direction as Duo.

"¬I guess we're going to settle this now, huh?¬"

The Wing Gundam fired the beam cannon, vaporising the head of a Leo unit that had stealthily approached the Deathscythe.

"I'm out of here," Heero said into the radio.

"That jerk…." Duo cursed as he hit the panel in front of him. "I'll get him back, just you watch."

* * *

Upon returning home, Relena tearfully rushed into her mother's arms.

"Mother…"

"Relena…"

The two silently embraced each other for minute before they parted.

"Mother… Father said…"

"It's true, Relena. You're the adopted daughter of the last king of the Sanc Kingdom, Marticus. I… we didn't want to lie to you, but… the truth would have put you in danger," Mareen said emotionally.

Relena hugged her mother again. "But you're my parents… and you always will be."

"Thank you, Relena," the widow said as she returned the affectionate gesture.

* * *

It was understandable why Relena missed the next two days of school; in the past week, she'd been involved in two terrorist incidents, one of which claimed the life of her father. So when she returned to school, she was the last to know about the transfer of Heero Yuy.

She rushed to the room he'd been staying in.

"Heero!"

"What?" the pilot asked, annoyed at the interruption.

"I know why you're leaving. It's to do with your mission."

"Mission?" Heero repeated. Realising that privacy was important, he grabbed Relena and pulled her into the room.

Relena's heart started to race when she heard the door lock. 'Is he going to…'

"My mission is none of your business."

Heero's hatred of small talk brought the girl back to the here and now. "I spoke with Doctor J."

"And?"

"Well, he said that you were trained as an assassin."

"And yet you continue to annoy me," Heero said, turning his attention back to packing his things.

"People were trying to kill me," Relena said. "They already killed my father. They were working for OZ."

The pilot closed his suitcase. "It doesn't matter, the transfer has gone through already."

"I… At least stay for the party tomorrow night. To say goodbye to everyone."

Heero closed his eyes and shook his head. This was a bad idea. Parties had loud music he didn't like, people he didn't know and food he didn't understand.

However, it would mean that Relena would leave him alone until then. She had this terrible habit of being near him.

"I'll stay for the party, but after that, I'm gone."

"Thank you, Heero."

"And stay out of my way until the party."

"B-" Relena's protest died when she saw the stern look on his face. She swallowed reflexively. "I'll leave you now."

'Please don't hate me, Heero…'

* * *

It was the night of the party, and all of the students were enjoying themselves. Well, all but two of them.

Relena was trying to figure out what to say to Heero. She had wanted to ask him to lunch, as per her mother's suggestion. Of course, that had been before she discovered that he was an agent for the colonies and was on the move again. Her last victory with him was persuading him to attend the party.

A party he was doing his hardest to avoid interacting with.

She took a deep breath and resolved to tell him how she felt about him.

Heero Yuy was not enjoying the social function. The music was too loud and the food weird. At least he was being left alone.

"Heero…"

The pilot managed to avoid rolling his eyes and turned to the person who'd spoken his name. "Relena."

"Heero, I… there's something I wanted to talk to you about."

Heero noticed that a number of people had turned towards them. "Perhaps we should find somewhere a little more private?"

He opened a nearby door and stepped outside.

Relena nodded and followed.

"Heero, I…" the girl's words were cut off by an approaching mobile suit. "What the hell is that doing here?"

"Crap… Right, I'll deal with this idiot," Heero sighed. "Get everyone to safety."

"W-where are you going?"

"To MY mobile suit."

The Leo spotted Relena and fired at her. The shot missed her, but the impact of it shattered all the glass within three metres and knocked the brunette into Heero's arms.

Heero looked down and saw that she was dazed. Logic told him to leave her there and get to his Gundam. Leaving her there would probably result in her death. If Relena was dead, she'd stop bothering him.

Unfortunately for logic, Heero's body had started to operate on instinct and he was moving towards his mobile suit with the semi-conscious girl in his arms.

"This is a bad idea," he told himself as he approached the Wing Gundam.

Relena stirred in the pilot's arms. She looked up and saw where she was. Her dream was coming true: Heero Yuy was whisking her away to do lewd things with her.

Soon she would experience all that she had fantasised about. Heero tearing off her dress to fondle her breasts, his strong fingers working her pussy open to impale her on his mighty cock.

At least, that was how it was supposed to go.

Instead, she was being placed into the cockpit of an advanced mobile suit.

"What's happening?" she asked as Heero closed the hatch and booted up the Gundam's systems.

"Combat."

The pilot realised that there was nowhere for Relena to be in the cockpit. It made sense, the Gundam was designed for a single pilot after all. He let out a frustrated sigh. "Right, let me sit in the chair. The only way to stop you from bouncing around the cockpit is to strap you to my lap. Don't touch any of the controls or I'll break your hands."

Relena happily did as she was instructed. Being this close to Heero always made her happy, and to sit so close to his manhood while his arms were sort of around her was planting a new fantasy in her subconscious. "Shout left or right if you want me to move in that direction, Heero."

Heero was silent as he searched for the Leo that had interrupted the party. "There you are!"

The Gundam pulled out a beam sabre and thrust it through the mass produced mobile suit's torso. There was a three second delay before the Leo exploded.

The blast forced Relena back into Heero's lap. She could feel something under her.

'Is that…' she wondered with a blush.

The Gundam was rocked by another explosion, again causing its occupants to rub up against each other.

Relena was much happier about the situation than Heero was, but he didn't have the time to find another solution to their seating arrangement. The radar signalled that the enemy was 300 metres away and approaching from the Northwest.

Activating the jumpjets, the Gundam launched itself into the air towards the Leo. The 105mm cannon on the Leo was proving ineffective, the shells just bouncing off the high-tech alloy armour. Heero dispatched this second mech with a double-handed downward slash. The energy blade, split the Leo down to the waist.

A third Leo surfaced from the treeline and started to fire at the Gundam. Again, the 105mm shells were ineffective.

Heero deactivated his beam sabre and pulled out the buster rifle. A single shot blew the head and sensor suite clean off the Leo.

"We should finish him off!" Relena said. She was now understanding why Heero would want to be a mobile suit pilot. Having that much power in your hands was intoxicating.

"No need," Heero replied. When the civilian in his lap turned to face him for clarification, the reactor on the Leo detonated. "The Leo might be more manoeuvrable than a standard tank, but those fusion reactors can't take much punishment."

Relena hit the release on the harness.

"What are you do-" the pilot's question was cut off by the girl on his lap slipping her tongue into his mouth.

Relena's fingers tore open Heero's shirt, the buttons flying off around the cockpit. She broke the kiss and stared lustily into his eyes. "I need you inside me…"

The brunette started to kiss the pilot's throat as she fumbled for his trousers. She smiled as she felt some stirring in his loins. "Thrust into me, you sexy beast. I know you're good at thrusting…"

Heero was not happy about this development. He'd tried to do everything he could to discourage the girl on his lap. He'd rejected the invitation to her party, he'd warned her not to get too close. He'd even marked her throat with his grip to tell her to keep away. She knew he was an agent of the colonies, trained in numerous assassination techniques and she'd just seen him dispatch three mobile suits without hesitation.

'What would it take to get her to leave me alone?' he wondered. That thought was quickly discarded when he felt her delicate fingers stroking his rapidly hardening shaft.

"Take me, you stallion," she whispered huskily into his ear. She shifted up off his lap to remove her damp panties. "This is how excited you make me…"

[Scene edited to avoid falling afoul of the site rules.]

"We need to get going. I can't stick around here in the Gundam," the pilot said. "They're going to come looking for the mobile suits I destroyed."

"Can't you stay to protect me?" Relena asked. "They did come to kill me…"

"You don't know that," Heero replied. The communicator bleeped. "Besides, I've got orders to go elsewhere."

"But…"

"I'll drop you off at the school, then I'm off. Oh, and you might want to take these with you," the pilot said, handing over a pair of panties in desperate need of being laundered.

* * *

Elsewhere in the JAP area, a UES major was reviewing some materials gathered on a young man of interest in the explosion in the Marina. The materials included a name, several pictures and some basic medical data.

The Major in question was Sally Po. She'd been investigating the incident at the Marina and been caught up in the terrorist attack at the hospital, even being used as a hostage in Heero Yuy's escape.

There was something about how a man that young could control body functions that were autonomic in most other humans that intrigued the officer.

"It would take years, decades to gain that kind of control over your body," Sally mused as she looked at the readout that showed a steady heartbeat during the attempts to wake him. Even the surgeon was amazed at the way his arm was healing from the gunshot wound.

This "Heero Yuy" person not a normal human, but what was he? Was he the next stage in human evolution? Was he an experiment? The culmination of a eugenics programme that had been underway since the first colonies were commissioned?

Sally needed to know more about him. Searching through the archives had determined that there was a Heero Yuy, but given how this was a politician that had died some twenty years ago, she knew that it wasn't the same person.

'A codename? That does make some sense, but what is his real name? Where was he born? Who are his parents?'

The archives were no help with these questions, much to the Major's annoyance. Although she might admit, under the influence of large quantities of alcohol, that it did give him an air of mystery that was quite alluring.

Sighing, Sally reached for her coffee and closed the search engine. As she sipped her coffee, the updated screen showed some of the other photos that had been retrieved. The Major's eyes widened as she saw what had been missing from the other photos.

In the first image, Heero Yuy's torso was visible, showing a chiselled physique that would put a number of her soldiers to shame. The second showed him shirtless, the pectoral muscles were still tight, despite his relaxed state.

Despite just taking a sip of coffee, Sally found her lips to be rather dry of a sudden when she saw the third image.

"I have to know more about you, Heero Yuy…" she decided. She returned to her coffee cup and noticed that it was empty and that she was still thirsty.

* * *

To be continued…

Well, that's three chapters of this nonsense. I hope you're enjoying it. If not, feel free to state why it's not working for you. You are also very welcome to comment on what you think you'd like to see in the upcoming chapters. Who knows, you might get to see your wish be horribly bastardised in a monkey's paw like scenario.

The smutty scene in this chapter was truncated to avoid falling afoul of the site's rules. You can find more of it elsewhere on the internet if you happen to look hard enough.

Until the next time, stay awesome.


	4. Part 4

Heero Sandwich

By Lord Raa

* * *

Disclaim-me-do: If your date has a problem with the colour of your genitals after getting close enough to see them _,_ _it probably wasn't going to work out anyway_ _._

* * *

Part 4

* * *

Relena was finally coming down for her euphoric high after the school's party. Her friends had suspected something had happened with Heero during the school party, but every time they tried to ask something, they recalled what she'd been through recently.

Getting caught up in the attack on the hospital, the death of her father, the transfer of Heero Yuy and now the attack on the school all were starting to take their toll on Relena.

Though if she was honest, the biggest loss in Relena's life was the departure of Heero Yuy.

The mysterious young man had left no trace in the school computer system, causing many rumours to circulate. Not that Relena cared. She knew more than the others, but felt it was important to keep Heero's secrets as best she could. Though a small part of her brain did suggest that if she told people about him, he'd have to return, if only to silence her.

'Would Heero grant me one last request before he killed me?' Relena asked herself with a sigh as she looked out of the window.

If it hadn't been for Heero's insistence that she take them away with her, Relena would have given her panties to Heero as a memento of their time together. Only after he'd gone she'd learned from the trashy novel she was reading by D'Iscarica that the gift of used underwear was being used as a motivator for the hero to return to the heroine.

Relena had read a number of romance novels before, ranging from twee school romance some of the younger students at her school loved to more lurid texts that were aimed at a much older audience.

Ivor Biggun was the best writer she'd encountered, but his work often left her with confused feelings. Complex characterisation was nothing new, but the level of moral ambiguity in some of the protagonists often made her wonder if she should be enjoying the stories.

On the other end of the literature scale was the works of D'Iscarica. A writer with prose so purple it practically stained the reader's eyes. Rumour had it that the work of D'Iscarica was illegal in the Sanc Kingdom and several colonies, and printed copies could only be read through a mirror in other countries.

Relena was doubtful of the veracity of those tales, but the schools computers refused to search for any reference to the author and she'd had to smuggle in a digital copy on a burner tablet, one that couldn't be traced to anyone and would self destruct if the right code was put in.

* * *

Colonel Treize Khushrenada was not a man to make rash decisions when it came to assigning tasks. His keen mind had considered many possible options for the necessary role in his plans and came to the conclusion that Lieutenant Marquise was the man he needed to fulfil his goals.

Lieutenant Zechs Marquise was a man on the up in the United Earth Sphere Alliance military. He was a skilled mobile suit pilot, a fine commander of troops and he was a member of the elite Specials. But perhaps the most important part of Zechs' profile was that he was a man capable of seeing the bigger picture and understanding the political landscape.

It was a combination that made him an important part of Treize Khushrenada's plans for a better future. Treize had confided in him certain elements of his plan.

There is no doubt that Zechs would have liked to know more of the details, but he knew that the secrecy was important and Zechs was a good soldier who didn't ask certain questions. And what he didn't know, he couldn't reveal.

Zechs understood the reasons for his assignment to the Lake Victoria base. The Specials had only a few troops in that area and he was one of the best mobile suit pilots on the planet. Even in a standard Leo, Zechs was worth ten men in better suits.

The masked man was in his office when he received a phone call from one of his subordinates.

"What is it, Otto?"

"¬Sir… It's…¬" the soldier struggled to get his breath back, having run to the phone. "¬I've found an old mobile suit in one of the storage areas. I… I know, an old mobile suit in storage on a military base, but this… this is special. You have to come to Hangar 18 to see it for yourself, Sir.¬"

"A special mobile suit?" the Lieutenant mused. Otto was not the sort of man to waste a superior officer's time with nonsense or trivialities. "I'll come down right away. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Otto."

"¬My pleasure, Sir.¬"

Zechs placed the phone back on its cradle. He thought for a moment and picked it up again. "Noin, what are you doing right now? Are you available to come to Hangar 18 at the moment?"

"¬I was about to ask if you wanted to come to lunch, Sir. But if it's important, we can go to the hangar first.¬"

* * *

Hangar 18 was one of the least used buildings on the Victoria base. It had the disadvantage of being further away than the others and had a weird aura about it. Not that the senior staff on site believed in ghosts, but some of the more superstitious personnel thought that it would be best to leave it alone for as long as possible.

There had been rumours of a curse on the building, with a number of exaggerated tales of technicians being hurt in freak accidents, but it was the time the toilet backed up with an unholy stench that caused it to be considered an area where people didn't need to go.

And so, it had long been that way until an officer called Otto had decided to inspect the structure.

There had been some debate about why Otto had decided to explore the base. He was bored, he was looking for something to sell on the black market, he was looking for somewhere he could avoid being volunteered for certain duties. Regardless of his reasons, Otto had found something that he wanted Zechs Marquise to know about.

That thing was an experimental mobile suit.

Zechs, Noin and Otto stood in front of the parts of the incomplete mobile suit.

"That thing is huge," Zechs noted. The suit was in pieces on the ground, but it was clear that it would tower above a standard Leo unit.

"I found some records on it, Sir," Otto replied. "It seems that it's a prototype mobile suit."

"Prototype?" Noin repeated.

"Yes, Ma'am. According to the notes I was able to read through, the designers determined that it had too much power for to be used properly, so they scaled back elements of it to create the Leo."

"Zechs, do you think it came from the same team who made the Gundams?"

"There's no doubt about it, Noin. Otto, can you rebuild it?"

Otto stood to attention. "My team can rebuild anything, Sir. We'll work night and day to get this operational for you."

"Excellent work, Otto," Zechs smiled.

* * *

Heero Yuy frowned when he saw the alarm indicate an open hatch on the transport aircraft he was stealing. Grabbing his pistol, he headed back to deal with this latest annoyance.

It was then that he saw Duo Maxwell climb out of his Gundam.

"Duo!" Heero growled. He was very tempted to put three rounds into Duo's skull there and then.

"So you remembered my name!" the long-haired pilot smirked. "I'll finish the pre-flight checks and you can load up your Gundam."

Heero felt his urge to kill rising, but he realised that now was not the time for such things. Besides, Duo could be killed in his sleep without any trouble. "Alright," he said, putting his gun away.

* * *

The attack on the New Edwards base would go down in history as a master class in the power of information during war. From the erroneous knowledge that the leaders of the OZ organisation were going to be there, to the killing of the United Earth Sphere Alliance High Command.

Heero Yuy had realised his mistake and his mind went blank. It wasn't the killing that had caused this current cognitive stall, there had been days when he'd ended more lives of mobile suit pilots before breakfast. No, it was the fact that he'd been given questionable intel.

Questionable intel came in many forms and had been the bane of soldiers since the dawn of warfare. From not knowing the battlefield conditions to underestimates of the enemy's strength, a lack of knowledge resulted in the deaths of soldiers. And one of the things that upset Heero the most about this intel was the fact that there were four other Gundams on Earth.

Had he known about them, he could have planned his missions better. Disrupted OZ operations away from them, forced OZ to spread their efforts across the globe. But now they knew about each other. What next? Would Duo ask them all to dinner?

Heero's shudder at the thought of interacting with four chatterboxes roused him in time to see an alert telling him he had an incoming message.

"What now? Yes, what is it?"

"¬This is Major Sally Po, I need you, Heero Yuy.¬"

"What?"

"¬I mean, I need you to disable the detonation device on the missiles,¬" the Major said, feeling a little embarrassed at her slip. She hadn't meant for her words to sound lustful, but the thought of Heero Yuy crawling along on his hands and feet, his shirt riding up to reveal his six-pack abs had just bypassed her filter.

"Missiles? Right, yeah, disabling them. Where do I need to go?" Heero asked.

"¬I'm sending you the information now.¬"

* * *

Major Sally Po was feeling more than a little embarrassed by her lack of professionalism. She'd practised the words before she called Heero on the radio.

It was just that the thought of him getting all dirty and sweaty as he saved everyone's life by crawling along, his pert buttocks attracting attention became very distracting.

The fact that all of the medical data on him had shown him to be healthy and robust had also brought focus to his heritage. Judging from the physical examination, it appeared that his lineage was a good one, genetically speaking, at least.

Could someone like Heero Yuy, a prime physical specimen, be the result of a random throw of the genetic dice? The colonies had some advanced technologies, so the idea of a scientist starting a breeding programme to survive better in space wasn't beyond the realm of possibility.

Unfortunately, there seemed to be very little available data to support such a theory and there were still some strict rules on the genetic engineering of humans.

So on the assumption that Heero wasn't the product of illegal genetic modification, that left him being the winning result in the genetic lottery. At the age of 27, Sally Po decided that such good fortune and potential must not go to waste.

The only downside to this plan was the coup d'etat that OZ was currently executing meant that she would have to go into hiding with Heero to have their children. And without Heero, the fight against OZ was doomed to failure.

It was quite the dilemma for Sally.

"But there are four other Gundams…" she mused. "And it's not like Heero needs to be around all of the time. And it would give him something to fight for…"

It was wrong. It was devious. It was selfish.

It was also the best way for her to get what she craved.

It was Major Sally Po's chosen course of action.

* * *

Heero had prevented the missiles from detonating with less that two seconds to spare. He was annoyed with himself at being used by OZ. Fortunately, he was able to escape in the Wing Gundam before having to talk to Duo or the other pilots.

To Heero Yuy, solitude was great. It meant that people weren't likely to attack you in person or talk to you about inane things like fashion or music. Being alone suited him very well. It allowed him to collect his thoughts and focus on important things.

And so, it was with great sadness that when he returned from the mission at New Edwards base, he had to enrol in a local school. Being the mysterious transfer student was beginning to get tiresome, but it was less hassle than the alternative right now.

At least, that was what Heero thought until he saw a familiar face smile at him from outside the basketball court.

"Hi there," Duo Maxwell greeted cheerfully.

Heero sighed. "What are you doing here?"

"Attending school. It is what kids our age are supposed to do, right?" the long-haired pilot smirked. "Don't worry about it, it'll be fun."

"Fun? I'm not here for fun."

"Don't worry about it, Heero. Relax a little!" Duo insisted. "You'll burn out if you keep going without a break."

"Burn out… Yes, setting myself on fire seems like a good idea right now."

"What?"

Heero pointed to the limousine that pulled up to the school gates.

"Who's that?"

"With my luck, it could only one person," the short-haired pilot said, trying to keep his frustration under control.

The limousine's driver opened the rear door and out stepped Relena Darlian to contrasting reactions. The assembled crowd were amazed that the most famous girl in the world had appeared at their school.

Duo was impressed that she'd managed to track down Heero so quickly. "Wow, she's not your average chick."

Heero just wanted to be left alone.

"Hello, Heero," Relena said with a smile.

"Relena."

The rest of the student body went into to rumour overload. Heero Yuy, the mysterious and, quite frankly, surly transfer student knew Relena Darlian? They half expected the affable and talkative Duo Maxwell to be friends with Relena. Duo seemed to be friends with everyone.

Well, everyone except Heero Yuy, that was. Heero didn't like people.

Some of the seniors at the school felt he was being rude and so they attempted to correct his attitude. This plan backfired when he beat the crap out of them without breaking a sweat.

"Heero, I wanted to talk to you."

The crowd were amazed that a young woman like Relena Darlian, a princess in all but name who was blessed with looks, money and influence would want something, anything to do with Heero Yuy.

Then it dawned on some of the students. Heero was like this because of a break-up with Relena.

Heero looked across the student body and felt a rage burn inside his belly. 'Idiots, the lot of them. Don't they realised what a pain Relena Darlian is? She keeps acting weird and getting in the way of my missions!'

After taking a moment to calm himself, Heero gestured for Relena to follow him to a more secluded part of the school grounds.

"Relena, make it quick."

"H-Heero… I…" Relena fumbled for words. She'd spent the journey to the school practising what to say and now, she couldn't find the words to tell the boy in front of her what she wanted.

Part of this was Relena's upbringing. It wouldn't do for a woman of her social standing to casually mention that she wanted the man in front of her to whisk her off to a hotel room for a marathon love-making session.

Another part of it was the fact that Heero Yuy intimidated her. He could make her stop in her tracks with a mere look and if he scowled at her in just the right way, it made her throat dry and her panties wet.

"I…"

"Relena, you're causing trouble for the school," Heero chided. His eyes flicked over to where they were being watched by the rest of the student body.

"Sorry, Heero, I just needed to see you again."

The pilot was unimpressed, but not angry.

"Are… are you still planning to kill me?"

"Relena, you're a massive headache for me. Not one day goes by without me thinking I would be better off without having met you and if there weren't so many witnesses, I'd twist your head off like a bottle top."

Relena swallowed. Heero was being his usual brutally honest self. He could easily kill her and part of her wanted to die at his hands. "I… I think I'd like that."

"Why?"

"B-b-because it'd be at your hands," the brunette admitted shyly. "Plus, I know that no other man could make me feel the way you do."

"Duo Maxwell is also a pilot, why not try him?" Heero suggested. It was a brilliant plan, as it would tie up to of the biggest annoyances in his life in one fell swoop.

Relena looked over to where Duo was trying to act casual in front of the other students.

"He doesn't excite me the way you do."

'This is going to require another plan,' Heero thought with a sigh. "I'm too busy for such things. If you can get a lasting peace between the Earth and the Colonies, then I'll have the time to spend with you. Until then, I have to focus on my mission."

"Our fates must be inextricably linked!" the giddy teenager gushed.

The pilot felt the urge to kill several people with his bare hands rise. "Go. Now!" he growled, pointing towards her car.

Heero watched Relena let out a whimper before she started walk to the limousine. His blood was now boiling. Just because she'd been sort of successful in her attempts to seduce him, it didn't mean he wanted to see her every day.

Hell, he didn't want to see her ever again!

Duo took that moment to approach him.

"So, what did you talk about?"

"I tried to get her to go out with you."

"What? Why? She's into _you_, dude!"

"Duo, I'm in a bad mood. If you don't walk away now, I will pull out your spine and use it as a weapon to beat everyone that's in my way to death as I go on a rampage throughout the school," Heero's warning was eerily calm.

Duo looked at the face of his fellow Gundam pilot and decided that it was best not to test Heero on this matter. "Right, see you later, Heero."

"Not if I blind you first."

* * *

Elsewhere, Colonel Treize Khushrenada was expressing his disapproval at Lady Une's recent actions.

"It was lucky for us that the Gundam pilot was able to stop your plan, Lady Une."

"Sir?"

"To detonate all of those missiles like that, it would have caused an environmental disaster that would have poisoned the land for years to come."

"I'm sorry, Sir, I hadn't thought about it like that," Une admitted.

"You should be more elegant in your actions," Treize said. He allowed comment to sink in for a moment before he brought up the next thing he wanted to discuss with her. "What can you tell me about the pilots of the Gundams?"

Une nodded. "We have very little information on them, not even their names. Well, we seem to have one name, courtesy of an Alliance officer."

"Oh, is she a member of OZ?"

"No, sir, she wasn't suitable for recruitment, which is a shame, since her research skills are quite impressive."

"One cannot have everything," Treize smiled wistfully. "So, what is the pilot's name?"

"Heero Yuy."

"As in the politician?"

"Apparently so, sir," Une confirmed. "It's unclear if this is an homage to a fallen leader or a codename."

Treize pondered this. Heero Yuy, at least the original, was a peaceful man capable of inspiring people to do great things. Giving his name to a soldier seemed like a cruel joke. "What else can you tell me about the pilot?"

"He's…" Lady Une considered how best to describe the image she had in front of her.

It was an image of Heero Yuy with his shirt lifted up to reveal a physique that would have taken years to develop. The muscle definition alone was like that of an ancient Greek statue, yet there was no bulk. The boy, and he was a boy, Une reminded herself, was rail thin.

Rather than try to explain the image, Une moved onto the data from the physical examination. "He's lean, about 4 percent body fat. Got a number of scars all over his body."

"Do you have a picture of him?"

"One moment, Sir." Une fumbled for the one that had the most dignity. It was one where Heero's shirt had ridden up and revealed his abs, but at least it didn't look sleazy.

Treize considered the young man in the photo. "Heero Yuy…"

"Lady Une, I want you to learn more about this Heero Yuy. He will be an important figure in our struggle for a better world."

"As you wish, Sir."

* * *

To be continued…


	5. Part 5

Heero Sandwich

By Lord Raa

* * *

Disclaim-me-do: Discrete genital jewellery is permitted, but should be kept out of general view.

* * *

Part 5

* * *

Heero's latest mission required interaction with the other Gundam pilots. This was becoming far too regular for his liking.

Sure, he didn't know all of the pilots, only recognising them and identifying them by their Gundams, but they were all so annoying. All of them kept talking.

Duo was the worst for that, followed by that blonde kid. The pilot of the Shenlong Gundam was less inclined to small talk, but when he did open his mouth, he was often blathering on about justice, honour, weaklings and how women didn't belong on the battlefield. It was almost as bad as Duo's small talk and so, Heero was becoming quite good at tuning people out.

The one pilot that currently didn't raise any flags was the pilot of long ranged fire support Gundam.

Fortunately for Heero, that quiet pilot was the one who had met up with him to find the Taurus mobile suits. It seemed that Fate was now smiling upon him as the pair were able to start the destruction of the OZ base.

But Fate seemed to enjoy sabotaging Heero Yuy's plans.

A white mobile suit unlike any other the Earth used descended from a carrier and started to speed towards the Wing Gundam.

"Is that a SIXTH Gundam?"

That was all Heero needed, a sixth Gundam. Another person who would bore him with small talk. He turned to face the new arrival. His sensors were unable to find a match in the suit's database. 'A prototype?'

The unidentified suit dropped its ranged weapon and pulled out a beam sabre.

"¬You, pilot of the Gundam, I'm here to challenge you to a duel,¬" a voice called out over the radio.

Heero looked at the suit who'd challenged him. This would be a decent fight, and who knew, maybe he'd even be killed. 'No,' he thought. 'The gods of war would not be so kind as to end my fight so soon.'

The Wing Gundam dropped the beam rifle and pulled out a beam sabre to match the suit that had issued the challenge.

The duel was on, now Zechs Marquise would get his revenge on the Gundam.

'Maybe this will finish me off…' Heero mused as he charged the enemy mech.

* * *

Trowa Barton continued his mission, destroying countless credits worth of Alliance military hardware. He enjoyed the range his Gundam, Heavyarms, allowed him.

It did get a little costly on the ammo, but being able to cut down whole swathes of enemy mobile suits was quite useful given the nature of the kinds of operations the Gundams would undertake. The revised Operation Meteor was very much a quality over quantity approach to warfare.

And so, Trowa was quite happily mowing down Leo after Leo as he fought to where the new Taurus mobile suits were being kept up until he saw the broadcast from Lady Une threatening the colonies.

There was some comms chatter from the other Gundam pilots, all along the lines of "OZ wouldn't threaten the lives of all those civilians, would it?"

Trowa wasn't sure he could risk the lives of countless people to call the bluff of the enemy. He started to pull back from the battle when he saw the front hatch of the Wing Gundam open.

* * *

Heero Yuy smiled. Finally, he would be free. Free from the relentless grind of combat. Free from the incessant small talk of Duo Maxwell.

And most importantly, he'd be free from Relena Darlian.

He activated the hatch and stepped out into the open, holding the self-destruct device.

"This is Heero Yuy, mission accepted," he said pressing the red button with his thumb.

The Wing Gundam started to destroy itself, the reactor initiating a meltdown that started to overload sensitive circuits and sending a ripple of explosions through the internal structure.

A hydraulic system caught fire, the oils started to rapidly expand in cylinders and reservoirs causing seals to rupture. A cloud of oil ignited, the resultant fireball throwing Heero to the ground.

The Rest of Wing Gundam fell forward, with large chunks breaking apart and raining down on the local terrain.

Zechs Marquise looked on, unsatisfied with the outcome of his duel. The gnawing sensation that he was being toyed with grew inside him, causing him to hate everything about this situation.

"The Gundam pilot was only a boy… Are the other Gundam pilots so young?" he asked rhetorically. He now noticed that the other Gundam that had been attacking the base and radioed it. "Go ahead, take him with you. I won't attack you now."

Trowa made the Heavyarms nod before picked up Heero's unconscious form. He turned to leave the battlefield, unsure of what he or the other Gundam pilots could do.

* * *

Over the course of the next month, Heero Yuy would drift in and out of consciousness. Occasionally, he would wake to ask for water or food with a moan or a gesture, but never say or do anything more.

Eventually, the pilot woke up for long enough to sit up in bed and look around for details as to where he was. The rhythmic click-clacking of knitting needles attracted his attention.

'A girl…' he thought. His eyes narrowed as he tried to make out the face of the knitter. "Not you again!"

"What? Oh, you're awake now?" the girl responded by turning to face the injured youth.

"You're not Relena," Heero said. "Sorry. My memory's a bit hazy at the moment. Where am I?"

"I'm Catherine. I'll get Trowa," Catherine smiled as she rose from her seat.

A few minutes later, Trowa Barton walked in.

"Why am I still alive?" Heero asked. "I was supposed to die in the explosion that destroyed my Gundam."

"I… It seemed like the right thing to do at the time," Trowa answered. "Also, the pilot of that mobile suit you were duelling with wanted me to take you away."

"Where am I right now?"

"You're with the travelling circus I use as my cover. At the moment, none of them know about what we do."

Heero nodded. He could keep secrets like these with little trouble.

A comfortable silence descended on the pair until Catherine returned to announce that there would be soup soon.

"Thank you, Catherine," Heero said. Without his Gundam, he was at the mercy of Trowa's circus friends. It made sense to be polite. And, as he recalled, the last time he was rude to a girl, she became obsessed with him.

When they were alone again, Trowa spoke again. "There haven't been any missions from the since the destruction of your Gundam. As far as OZ is concerned, you're already dead."

"If only I was."

"Everyone's worried that OZ will threaten the Colonies again." Trowa moved to look at the window. "I don't know what to do. Should I follow in your example?"

"It's up to you, but you should know that it hurts like hell."

Trowa blinked before letting out a laugh. "Yeah, I guess it would."

"Trowa, I have a big favour to ask you."

"If I can help, I will."

"Tell me what's been happening while I was out."

"Not a problem."

In the kitchenette, Catherine Bloom realised that this was possibly the first time she'd heard Trowa Barton laugh out loud. It was nice to know that he could laugh, even though it would probably be rare.

'If he can make Trowa laugh like that, I should learn more about him,' she decided.

* * *

In another part of the world, ex-Alliance Major Sally Po was allowing herself a moment to think about something other than the guerilla raid she'd just taken part in.

'Damn you, OZ! Damn you for forcing Heero Yuy into a corner. Damn you all to hell!' she thought bitterly.

"Sorry about this, Sally. The first time you're home in a long time and this is what's happening," said the guerilla sitting to her right.

"It's alright, I'm just… it's our situation, seven weeks ago and I probably would have been fighting the Gundams alongside those troops," Sally sighed. "But here we are."

"If we didn't fight we'd be killed by Bunte and his troops. At least this means we can die w-." The guerilla's words were cut off by the arrival of three Leo mobile suits. "Ah, crap!"

* * *

The arrival of three Leo suits interrupted Wufei's introspection. He'd spent most of the last two months reflecting on his perceived unworthiness and lack of strength.

Perhaps it had been arrogance on his part to challenge Treize Khushrenada to a duel?

Perhaps overconfidence brought on by piloting a superior mobile suit had caused him to falter during his last mission?

Or maybe he just wasn't good enough to pilot the Shenlong?

The detection systems on his Gundam sounded, indicating the arrival of Alliance mobile suits.

"Just what do they want?" he asked rhetorically. He started scanning the area and saw Leos were attacking infantry.

"I don't have the right to pilot you, Nataku, but how can I allow these people to kill those weaker than themselves?"

Wufei took the Gundam out of standby mode and started to move towards the battle.

* * *

"Heero," Catherine said as she sat next to him. "Can I ask you a few questions?"

"Ask anything you like."

"I… what do you know about Trowa?"

"Very little, he doesn't talk much."

"I know," Catherine said. "It's… well, I want to know him better."

Heero looked at the woman sitting next to him, hoping to gauge her intentions. "Why? Are you planning to ask him out?"

"What? No! Dating Trowa would be like dating my brother!"

"Then why do you want to know more about him? You've known him longer than I have," Heero countered.

"He's always been distant. Until today, I'd never heard him laugh."

"And how is that either my problem or my fault?" the pilot asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Oh no, you misunderstand, Heero," Catherine insisted. "I just meant that he's found a friend who helps him relax and feel natural. He'd brought a friend back with him before, but the pair seemed to sit in silence most of the time he was here."

"What can you tell me about this friend?"

"He was called Wufei Chang. He was a bit strange, like he wasn't sure about something but wouldn't tell anyone what it was."

Heero nodded, pretending he understood and cared about the situation.

"I… I don't want to pry, but what happened to you to cause such injuries?"

Heero was about to give his standard reply of "If I told you, I'd have to kill you," when he remembered that was what he told Relena and that situation had only seemed to resolve itself because she thought he was dead.

"I… I would rather not say. There are a lot of things that I've done and been involved in that are not for polite conversation."

Catherine felt her heart melt. Evidently Heero Yuy had experienced a hard life in his short time alive, and yet he was still thinking about things like manners and the feelings of others. Too many people who had been through tough times used that as an excuse for their behaviour.

"I won't pry further, Heero," she said, feeling a few tears start to well in her eyes.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Your eyes look like they're about to start watering. Do you need some eyewash?" the pilot asked, ready to seek medical assistance.

"Oh no, I'm fine," Catherine smiled. 'He's so kind…' "It's just a little dust. I'll be fine soon. I'll leave you to get better."

Heero nodded. At least this Catherine person wasn't obsessed with him like Relena had been. He felt a twinge of pain flare up inside his skull when he thought about the Darlian girl.

Not knowing what else to do, the pilot lay down on his bed to aid his recovery. He might not have the Wing Gundam but when he recovered properly, he could still undertake guerilla actions to hinder OZ for the other pilots.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Moscow, Relena was conscious of the fact that she was the youngest person in the room, probably enough to be the child of everyone there, and in many cases, the grandchild.

In fact, Marquise Weridge had pretended that she was his granddaughter.

"It's good that a young person such as yourself is here, Relena," Weridge said. "Gives us hope for a future generation."

"Hmm," the brunette nodded absently. Her thoughts were elsewhere, namely getting revenge for her adoptive father and Heero Yuy.

OZ propagandists were crowing about the pilot of a Gundam had died when he self-detonated it. Some digging from Relena's contacts had determined that it was the Wing Gundam – the same one Heero piloted.

'I will avenge you, Heero!' Relena thought angrily. 'OZ will pay for cutting short our time together!'

"Is something the matter, Relena?" Weridge asked.

"Oh, I was just… Wait a minute, I know her!"

Weridge looked at the woman Relena was pointing at and frowned when she approached them. "Roses don't suit military uniforms. They belong on the dresses of young women like Relena."

"Roses don't suit me either," Relena said, her right hand reaching behind her back. "I'd look better drenched in the blood of OZ!"

Lady Une blinked in surprise as Relena pulled out a pistol and fired three times at her. One shot destroying the rose she wore on her tunic, the second glancing across her shoulder and the third missing her entirely.

The OZ soldiers were just as surprised as the rest of the people in the ballroom at the actions of the young woman.

"Get her, you fools!" Une bellowed.

Weridge and the other guests ran interference for Relena, allowing her to escape the building.

* * *

Trowa noticed that Catherine seemed happy about something. Normally, he wouldn't bother asking her for details and was not about to change that habit when she approached him.

"Trowa… what do you think about Heero?"

"Heero? He's…" Trowa stalled for time. "I don't know him that well, but he's good at what he does. He's a strong-willed man and he's always treated me with respect. Why do you ask?"

"I… well, I was thinking that I might ask him out on a date. Once he's well enough, I mean," Catherine smiled.

The Heavyarms pilot didn't see any problem with Catherine dating Heero as a principle. Catherine was an adult, and could make her own decisions after all. But was dating Heero a good idea?

Heero was a Gundam pilot. He could have to depart at a moment's notice and not come back for days. Trowa himself had demonstrated this when he left for the mission at New Edwards base. Not only that, Heero seemed to consider life a chore that needed to be endured.

Dating someone like that would not end well.

"I… If you're sure that's what you want to do," Trowa said non-committally.

"You're not jealous are you?" the knife-thrower asked with a smirk.

"No."

"Then I'm going to ask him out now," Catherine said defiantly.

'But there might be things about Heero that you don't like…' the pilot thought as the young woman walked away to talk to Heero.

* * *

This convalescence was strange to Heero Yuy. It brought conflicting feelings. He did not like the lapse of training due to his injuries. He also did not like the fact that his Gundam had been destroyed and he was reliant on the help of others, even if one of them was a fellow Gundam pilot.

What he did like, however was the chance to relax away from the biggest non-military source of stress for him.

This Catherine person was kind, and, most importantly, respectful of his personal boundaries. If things changed and he was to become a civilian once the war was over, he might consider joining the circus. He had some skills that might prove useful the troupe or entertaining to the audiences.

'I should ask Catherine about knife-throwing. I was never very good at that. Might be a hang up about throwing away a perfectly good weapon that I can keep using.'

There was a knock on the door to the room he was staying in.

"Come in."

It was Catherine Bloom. "Hi, Heero. I was wondering if you wanted to go out some time?"

"Go out and do what?" the pilot repeated, unsure of what she wanted.

"Well, we'd go for a walk, we'd talk, have dinner, maybe show each other something special…" Catherine smiled flatteringly.

"Can you show me how to throw knives properly?"

"I guess…"

Heero nodded in approval. "I suppose that we can do this now, if you're not too busy."

"Well, I was hoping to prepare myself a little more."

"You are fine as you are, just bring your knives and we'll go off to practice," the pilot insisted.

* * *

Catherine felt a little giddy as she walked with Heero. She had gone out on dates with other boys before, but there was something different about spending time alone with Heero Yuy. The young man had an air of mystery about him, something that hinted he couldn't speak of all he knew.

Sure, Trowa had similar aspects about his personality, but he was Trowa. To Catherine, treating Trowa as anything other than her little brother felt weird. She'd felt awkward about the time her knife-throwing had caused a cut to his face.

If that had happened to Heero, Catherine was sure that she would have felt just as bad, but a small part of her mind was suggesting that she had a good way of making it up to him.

"Where do you want to go, Heero?"

"I think somewhere we won't be bothered would be nice," the pilot answered. The fewer people around, the better. He didn't need his skills to become common knowledge.

"Here is good," Catherine said as they approached a clearing. "So, what is the main problem you have with knife-throwing?"

"I always seem to hit my target with the handle of the knife," Heero admitted. He gestured for the knives Catherine had brought with her.

He launched each blade towards a tree, all five of them bouncing off the trunk.

"Am I doing it wrong? Do I have bad technique?"

"Possibly," the auburn-haired woman said. "Let me show you how I do it."

Catherine gathered the blade and hit the trunk five times from the same distance Heero had attempted.

"My postured didn't seem that different to yours. Move my body into the stance you think I should be in."

The knife-thrower nodded as she manipulated Heero into the correct stance. She placed a hand on his hip as she instructed him turn towards the target. "Try this."

Again, Heero launched the blades at the tree and again he failed to get a knife to stick into the trunk.

"Better, but let me try this," Catherine suggested as she held Heero close and directed his arm.

Heero noted that it wasn't unpleasant when Catherine held him close. In fact, it was quite nice to feel her body pressed up against his. However, it was unexpected to feel her heart beat faster as she placed an arm around him.

'Wait a minute… this is like what happened with Relena!'

Heero turned to confront Catherine about her behaviour when she leaned in and kissed him.

The Gundam pilot's thoughts became a tumultuous mass. The two main themes his keen tactical mind felt were confusion and a sense of betrayal. The confusion came from Heero not understanding why Catherine would to kiss him. As far as he could tell, he was not unattractive, but that didn't mean girls would be throwing themselves at him.

The sense of betrayal came not for Relena, but from Catherine who has lured him to this secluded area under the guise of weapons training.

However there was a third idea that entered and was now filling his mind. It was familiar, like all the times he'd acted on instinct. But he'd only experienced it exactly like this once before.

"I… I'm sorry, Heero, I…" Catherine babbled her apology.

The pilot moved on autopilot, dropping the knives and moved his body to a position where he could hold her close. His intense gaze held Catherine's rapt attention.

'If he didn't want this, he would have said something…' the auburn-haired woman reasoned. 'Heero wouldn't hold me close if he didn't want me. He's dropped the knives, so he won't kill me…'

Catherine leaned in for another kiss. This time, Heero kissed back.

* * *

To be continued…


	6. Part 6

Heero Sandwich

By Lord Raa

* * *

Disclaim-me-do: Evil will always triumph, because Good does not make me want to masturbate furiously.

* * *

Part 6

* * *

Sex. A funny word to many teenagers. A motivator for many adults as a fear for some and an addiction to others. One thing was for certain though: It complicated matters.

Heero Yuy was not happy about what had happened with Catherine Bloom. He hadn't planned it. His primary focus had been on recovering from his attempted self-immolation in the Wing Gundam. He didn't particular enjoy spending time with Catherine, but she certainly didn't annoy him like Relena Darlian.

The pilot wasn't sure if he'd enjoyed his encounter with the woman who lay on her clothes, recovering from her exertions. It hadn't been a bad interaction, like getting shot, removing that catheter or listening to Duo Maxwell, but still, it hadn't been the gold standard of pleasurable human experiences that he'd been led to believe sexual intercourse to be.

'Am I doing something wrong?' Heero pondered. He case quick glance at Catherine and saw that she had a smile on her face. 'By the look on her face, she seemed to enjoy it. She did scream like Relena though.'

The pilot took that opportunity to practice his knife throwing. It would allow him to calm his mind. Ten minutes later, and Heero had started to get the hang of it.

He could regularly get the blade to embed itself into a tree trunk and only occasionally had the handle hit the bark and bounce off.

Catherine started to stir and she looked up at the calm expression on her lover's face as he launched the steel towards the tree.

'His focus is impressive. He's acting like nothing happened, even though we…' she thought with a blush as she looked down to see her naked body. 'I should get dressed before someone comes looking for us.'

Heero turned to see Catherine redressing herself. She had a finely toned body that told of countless hours of practice. He recalled that the pert pair of breasts had been pleasant to touch, and that Catherine had pulled his head into them when he had taken them into his mouth.

The pilot took it as more evidence that he wasn't doing everything wrong.

The knife-thrower looked up at Heero as she slid her panties up. "Oh, did you want these as a trophy? Well," she said as she pulled the garment up into place, "I've got much better, sexier options for you, Heero."

Heero wasn't sure what to make of the wink he'd had thrown his way. He thought back to Relena's comment about how he should take her underwear with him as a 'reason to keep fighting' after he'd left her and that school for what he thought had been the last time.

'Why do women seem to think that I want their soiled undergarments? I don't run a laundry service, I can't help them with getting them clean,' the pilot thought with a slight frown. "That's not necessary."

"Oh, you're planning to stay with the circus?" Catherine replied, half teasing, half hoping that it was the case. Neither Heero nor Trowa had been easy to tease, but that didn't mean the acrobat hadn't felt the need to continue as part of her attempts to get Trowa to open up more.

"That is not what I have planned," Heero admitted. Before either of them could continue the conversation, noise that indicated a person approaching interrupted them.

Heero prepared to launch a blade in the direction of the noise, but Catherine told him to stand down when she recognised the figure.

"There you are. The boss wants to talk to everyone. Says he's got a big announcement to make. I think it's good news," the circus performer said, slightly out of breath.

"Well, time to head back. You can always practice later, Heero."

* * *

Trowa Barton talked with Heero about his plan for the upcoming performance at the OZ base.

"They won't expect a Gundam to come in with the circus. I'll be able to cause massive amounts of damage to their forces, and when I'm done, I can self-detonate the Gundam to further disrupt the base infrastructure."

"An admirable plan," Heero nodded approvingly. "However, there is one area that would concern me."

"What's that?"

"The self-detonation device in the Gundams may not be enough to damage any buildings on its own," Heero answered. "Yes, it's effective at destroying the internal systems to prevent reverse-engineering them, but as a means of destroying something else, it's quite poor. And you'll only have one chance to detonate it. If you could arrange to detonate by the aircraft fuel, it might be enough."

Trowa looked thoughtful. Was Heero telling him to continue to live or just trying to ensure that the mission was as successful as possible? 'Catherine was also complaining about my indifference to my life…'

"This would be a one-man mission without any possible backup," Heero said, shaking the Heavyarms pilot out of his reverie. "Do you have any intel on the base layout? You'll need to plan where you can start and where to finish the assault to make the most of your ammunition."

'He's helping me make the most of my resources,' the able-bodied pilot decided. "I don't have much experience with planning missions like this. Heero, can you help me plan it?"

"I will do what I can, Trowa."

* * *

Trowa's plan for one last mission wasn't going too well. Sure, Heavyarms would be able cut down any OZ mobile suit, but the base was spread out and his projections suggested that he could barely destroy half of it on his own before he ran out of ammunition.

Even with the help of Heero Yuy to select the sequence of targets, it didn't look like his sacrifice via self-detonation would provide that much benefit to his mission.

"What should we do, Heero?" Trowa asked.

"I may no longer have a Gundam to fight alongside you, but I might be able to help you on the ground. If I am part of the circus, I can start sabotaging things during the other performances," Heero said, not looking up from the map. "Set some charges, cut some cables to power or radar."

"But your injuries…"

"Our fates were sealed the moment we were selected as Gundam pilots. Death could come at any moment for any of us, be it from battle, illness or accident. Who are we to attempt to avoid death now?"

Trowa nodded. How could he have been so blind? Only now was he seeing the difference between himself and Heero, between just wanting to die and being willing to sacrifice oneself.

Wanting to die would just end whatever pain he had. Being willing to sacrifice himself so that others might live with no promise of glory would only bring greater pain upon himself. It was noble. It was heroic. It was what Trowa would also do.

"What if I was able to remotely rig the self-detonation system? I could continue the fight on the ground."

"Your instincts are getting better, Trowa, you should trust in them. If you're wrong, you die and all your problems are over. If you're right, the enemy dies and you have another chance to find a solution for your problems," Heero said. "Either way, it's the way a Gundam pilot should live."

* * *

A little later that day, Trowa had to investigate the self-destruction system on the Heavyarms Gundam. Catherine had started to ask a few questions as to what he had planned. At first, he'd been able to fob her off with the vaguest of details, but now she wanted something more concrete.

Not sure what else he could do to get some time to complete his preparations, he told the girl that Heero wanted to see her.

"He does?" Catherine asked, her demeanour changing completely. She recalled the good time they'd had together after throwing practice. 'He must want me!' "OK, we'll, I'll leave you to your preparations, Trowa. Just don't be too late back."

"I'll do my best. Oh, and Heero said that he wanted to see you ASAP."

Catherine smiled and turned to walk directly to where the injured young man was resting.

'Sorry about this, Heero, but you did say you'd do what you could to help me.'

Taking a deep breath, Catherine Bloom knocked on the door to the caravan Heero was staying in.

"Come in," a gruff voice called out.

"Hi there, Heero," the performer smiled. "Trowa mentioned that you wanted me."

Heero looked thoughtful for a moment. 'Trowa must need me to keep her distracted. If I send her away on an errand, she might find where Trowa keeps his Gundam.' "Yes, come in."

The young lady smiled as she stepped up to where Heero was resting. "So, what was it that you wanted?"

'Time to make yet another sacrifice for the Colonies,' the pilot thought. "Well, without wanting to put too fine a point on it… You, Catherine."

"Me?" the auburn haired teenager asked coquettishly. "Whatever could you mean, Heero Yuy?"

"Why not come here and find out?"

Catherine moved in for kiss and was surprised by the way Heero pulled her in, his strong arms moving across her body. She could feel herself smile as Heero started to unbutton her blouse. "You're so naughty, Mr. Yuy."

"I'm told that being a bad boy is part of my charm," Heero said as he helped his lover out of her clothes. He thought about what to say next to keep Catherine there. Instinct from an unknown source of experience took over. "Now, let me find out what you taste like."

"T-taste?"

[Edited for site rules.]

Heero pulled away from between the girl's legs and looked up at her. 'She's got that same look on her face as before. Relena had it, too.'

The pilot reached up as he stretched. His injuries weren't hurting him as much as they had the previous day. 'I must be nearly healed.' Water was what he decided he needed.

He carefully exit the bed, noting how content Catherine looked as she lay on his bed, legs akimbo with her hands resting on her flat stomach.

'I'll get Catherine some, too.'

By the time Heero returned with the water, Catherine had stirred from her post-coital bliss.

"Here, drink this," the pilot instructed.

The pair drank in silence. After a moment, the auburn-haired teenager spoke next. "Heero, I… there's something I wanted to ask you."

"Ask away."

"It's about Trowa; is he planning something dangerous?"

"Yes."

"Can you tell me what it is?" Catherine asked, hoping that her surrogate brother wasn't about to do anything foolish.

"It's not my place to reveal the secrets of others," Heero said. He looked at the clock absently. 'How much longer will I need to keep her distracted?' "Especially those I consider to be friends."

The pilot turned his attention back to Catherine. "Trowa keeps secrets from you because he doesn't want to endanger you unnecessarily. The more you know about him, the greater the danger is for you. I see no reason to risk your life."

A silence descended on the pair. Catherine was glad that Trowa had a good friend, but she still didn't like the idea of him being hurt by something. "I-I'm not sure he appreciates the value of his life. Could you keep him safe?"

"I can make no guarantees for his well-being, but I will do what I can for him."

"Thank you, Heero," the acrobat smiled genuinely.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to remove these bandages," Heero said.

Catherine sat watching intently as the young man standing before her started to undress. She was surprised to notice that Heero's wounds had almost completely healed to light scarring. Her gaze darted to his crotch. "Say, Heero, since you can see me, why don't you let me see all of you?"

Heero didn't like being completely naked around women. It was a classic ploy to catch people unaware in the event of an assassination or robbery attempt. Still, it would help keep her occupied to let Trowa complete his work on his Gundam. He slipped off the rest of clothes.

His slight frame highlighted his still well-defined musculature. There was some light scarring all over his body from his training and missions. Catherine assumed that it was because Heero was a rough and tumble kind of young man rather than a child soldier trained in assassination techniques.

As the pilot stretched, the acrobat's attention was drawn to the way his testicles swayed with his movements. She realised that he hadn't come during their time in the forest and came to a lewd conclusion. 'Heero needs to empty his balls. In me, on me, it doesn't matter.'

"Come here and fuck me, Heero!"

* * *

Elsewhere, Trowa was coming to an unfortunate conclusion. The self-destruct mechanism in Heavyarms was not able to be rigged to remote activation. This left him with two options for his mission.

He could continue with his original plan, destroying himself when he ran out of ammunition.

'Or I could engage in some ground combat with Heero and escape with him and the Gundam. It would mean that we have to abandon the circus,' the pilot mused as he replaced a panel in his mobile suit cockpit.

Trowa's time with the circus had been the closest thing to a family that he'd experienced. To abandon them like this did feel wrong, but he had been assigned to Operation Meteor and told that it was its success was his priority.

"I will need to talk to Heero," the pilot decided.

* * *

Back in his caravan, Heero was being cuddled by Catherine. After some deliberation, he decided that he liked the feel of her breasts against him.

However, he was still unconvinced as to the place of sexual intercourse in the hierarchy of pleasures one could experience. Something was still missing for him, even after this latest encounter with Catherine.

Coincidentally, Catherine was also thinking about her latest sexual encounter. Heero, she decided, was a special man. He was still young, yet he'd been able to make her feel things she hadn't ever before. Despite his slender body, his strength was impressive and stamina was less human and more like a machine.

There was one thing that still bothered her though: Heero hadn't had his fun. What was the problem?

'Is it me?' Catherine wondered. She knew she didn't have as much sexual experience as some of those around her, but still, the couple of times she'd done it with, the boys had always enjoyed it.

Was it Heero? He'd obviously been through some trauma, the scars on his body told her that much. Had something horrific happened to him when he'd been injured?

"Heero," the young woman said. "I… there's one thing I've been meaning to ask you."

"What's that?"

"You know, you never told anyone how you got those injuries."

"My secrets are my own," the pilot said, transfixing the naked girl with a stern look. "You should be careful with men like me and Trowa."

"W-why?"

"Because we are dangerous."

Catherine's eyes widened. "Dangerous how?"

"I've already said too much," Heero replied. "But I will tell you this, I have enemies that would threaten others just to get me. This is why I keep away from others."

It was partially true, Heero didn't like the idea of civilian casualties. He could have fled New Edwards and allowed countless people to die in when the missiles detonated, but he risked life and limb to prevent that. But the main reason why Heero kept away from others was his irritation at most of humanity. Duo Maxwell and Relena Darlian had removed most of his ability to tolerate other people.

* * *

To be continued…

This chapter has been edited in order to comply with the site rules on adult content. If you'd like to read the completed chapter, it is elsewhere on the internet if you can search for things properly.


	7. Part 7

Heero Sandwich

By Lord Raa

* * *

Disclaim-me-do: Anyone who doesn't think dinosaurs are awesome just isn't worth a second date. Unless they do anal.

* * *

Part 7

* * *

Trowa's mission to destroy the OZ base had gone almost flawlessly. All of the mobile suits had been destroyed, most of the infrastructure had been damaged, if not destroyed and most of the ground troops had been killed. Such had been the slaughter of OZ forces, he hadn't needed to self-detonate.

The one setback the mission had suffered was the injury to Heero Yuy.

Heero had been too close to one of the exploding buildings and suffered some abdominal wounds from the shrapnel. He'd managed to fight on, only collapsing into Catherine's arms once the remaining troops had fled.

Trowa set Heavyarms down and rushed to his friend's aid.

"Trowa, what were you thinking?" Catherine chided. "Heero could have been killed."

"I'm fine," Heero insisted weakly. "Trowa, you did well today."

"How can you say that, Heero? You're hurt," the woman cradling Heero's head in her lap.

"Only because I wasn't careful." Heero took a deep breath before finally admitting something wasn't right. "I think I might need some help."

"What's up, Heero?" Trowa asked.

Heero lifted up his shirt to reveal some shards of glass sticking out of his abdominal muscles. "It hurts a lot, I think it's more a concussive injury than a laceration."

Trowa pulled a first aid kit from his Gundam and started to remove the glass from his friend's torso. He prepared to clean the wounds with some rubbing alcohol. "Heero, this is going to hurt."

The injured youth took a deep breath before nodded. He shuddered and flinched as the alcohol stung his wounds, but remained silent.

To Catherine, he was putting on a brave face for her benefit. 'Silly Heero, I already know you're tough.'

Fortunately for Heero, his external injuries did not require stitches and could be closed with the adhesive in Trowa's kit. "Heero, you have to stay still for ten minutes, OK? Stay here with Catherine while I get everything ready to go, OK?"

"Yes."

When they were alone, Catherine looked down into Heero's eyes. "Heero, why didn't you tell me you and Trowa were mobile suit pilots?"

"We were trying to protect you," the pilot answered.

"Protect me?"

"The more people know about us, the greater the danger to us and yourself." Heero took a deep breath and winced. 'Feels like a cracked rib. I'll get to a doctor when we get going.' "If you don't know something, it can't be tortured out of you."

Catherine blinked in surprise. "Torture?"

"OZ threatened the colonies, so I wouldn't put torturing a civilian past them. I'm sorry, Catherine, but Trowa and I have to go. You'll probably never see us again, but I will do what I can to keep him alive," Heero said. He was starting to feel dizzy. The pilot reached up and touched the wet cheeks of the woman cradling his head. "No tears, not for us, Catherine. You should save them for people who deserve them."

"What do you mean?"

"I… I killed the Alliance high command by accident and helping Trowa's attack on this base probably mean we're war criminals."

Catherine frowned. This war had a terrible cost: countless lives had been lost and irreparable changed, herself included now that Heero was leaving her. "Heero…"

"Promise me that… that you'll look after yourself, Catherine…" Heero said, before falling asleep.

"H-"

"Let him sleep, Catherine," Trowa said, returning to the pair. "I promise that I'll get him to the next doctor we see."

"Trowa… I guess this does explain why you kept leaving the circus."

"I'm sorry, Catherine."

* * *

Half an hour later, Heero woke up in the cab of the mobile suit transporter. He looked around and saw the familiar face of Trowa Barton at the wheel.

"Trowa, where are we?"

"Heading away from that OZ base," the driver said, not taking his eyes off the road. He turned onto a long straight stretch of road and cast a glance at his passenger. "How are you feeling, Heero?"

"Tired. Chest hurts. I think I might have a cracked rib. Yourself?"

"I'm fine. Though I feel bad for leaving Catherine back there," Trowa answered.

"It's for the best," Heero replied. "She's a good person, but Catherine would have compromised our mission. The logistics of three are more challenging than two. Besides, there's something I have to do that she won't like."

"What's that?"

"I'll tell you when I know I can make it happen."

* * *

Heero thanked Trowa after their stop at the hospital. The doctor had confirmed that Heero had cracked a rib during the assault on the OZ base. The pilots had insisted that the injury was from a car accident, but the doctor knew better.

It hadn't taken much to get Heero ready to go again. The doctor had prescribed some painkillers and given the advice to keep moving and taking deep breaths to keep his lungs clear.

Heero had opted not to take the painkillers. He wasn't able to drive, but he could still breath and talk without being in agony.

"If you need them, let me know," Trowa said as they continued their journey. "So, where are we heading?"

"Somewhere we can get information on Field Marshal Noventa. I need to apologise to his family."

"Why?"

"Noventa was the one who was pushing for peace with the Colonies. If he was still alive, OZ wouldn't have been able to take over the Alliance in their coup," Heero explained.

"What if they want to kill you in revenge?" Trowa asked as he shifted up a gear.

"Then that's what they decide. It won't bring him back, but it's the only thing I can do to make amends."

Trowa wasn't convinced that this was a good idea, but said nothing. 'What if they decide to seriously wound you?' he wondered as they drove to the next town.

* * *

Sylvia Noventa scowled at the young man standing just a few metres away from her. This person had introduced himself as Heero Yuy and just confessed to killing her grandfather, Field Marshal Noventa.

At first, Sylvia had considered it a joke in very poor taste. A boy ten years younger than her killed her grandfather? How could that have happened? Her grandfather had been killed by a mobile suit sent by the colonies. Boys his age were not selected as mobile suit pilots.

The boy had handed her a gun and placed his life in her hands.

"Just what do you expect me to do with this? I'm not a killer, I can't execute someone! Who are you?"

"I told you, my name is Heero Yuy. I am a mobile suit pilot."

"Prove it," Sylvia said through gritted teeth.

"Over there, there's a truck. It's got a mobile suit in it," said Heero.

"Is it the one you used to kill my grandfather?"

"No. I… I had to destroy that one to stop OZ from attacking the Colonies."

Sylvia glared at Heero. "How does this other mobile suit prove your story?"

'This isn't going quite as well as I had planned. Even her shooting me would have been easier than this,' the pilot mused. "He was there. He can corroborate my story. He will tell you that we were tricked into attacking the base. That OZ was going to detonate the missiles there and cause untold damage to the area, killing countless civilians."

The woman's expression softened slightly. She'd heard something about how an ecological disaster had been averted at the last moment.

"So, you think that's enough to get me to spare your life?"

"No. If you want me to die to make amends, then now is your opportunity."

"I can't just kill you here! Civilised society doesn't work like that!" Sylvia chided. "If I shot you here, I'd be as bad as you! You need to face justice!"

"I'm giving you the chance to dispense justice here and now."

Sylvia blinked in surprise. How could anyone think this was a good idea? "You can't put justice in the hands of the victim's family! You'll get punishment and vengeance!"

Heero considered this and nodded. "Then I will allow you to have vengeance."

"You still don't get it, do you?" the grieving woman asked, her exasperation growing by the second. "We have a system for this sort of thing. It takes time, but they usually get the right person. It's why we don't execute people these days."

"In that case, can I have my gun back?"

Sylvia could feel her blood pressure skyrocket. She threw the pistol at Heero's head. "Here!"

Pain flaring up from the cracked rib caused the pilot to fail to react in time and he caught the full force on the impact on the forehead, knocking him to the ground.

"What happened?"

"Rib," Heero said with a wince. "Cracked it a few days ago. Still giving me trouble."

"How did you hurt yourself?"

"I… I was too close to a grenade when I was attacking an OZ base." The pilot opened his shirt to reveal the numerous, but faint marks of where the shrapnel had hit him and the fading bruise where his rib had been cracked.

Sylvia noticed that the muscles were quite well defined for someone his age. "I… I see. And if your life is in my hands, does that mean you have to do what I say?"

Heero was at a loss. He hadn't expected this response. He'd been prepared to die at her hands there and then or even later, to lie in an unmarked grave. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean I want to get to know you better. I need to know what kind of man you are. You're willing to prevent a base from exploding, yet you attacked another one. You are a mess of contradictions, Heero Yuy. I need to know what set you on this path."

"So what do you want to do about it?"

"Tea. We'll take tea in a café and you will tell me about yourself, Heero Yuy. After I feel I know you better, I'll know whether or not to take your life," Sylvia Noventa decided. "Bring you friend."

* * *

In the café Sylvia selected, Heero had been explaining about his mission with the Gundams. He'd gone over the basics from the time he'd washed up on the beach and been found by Relena Darlian to the assault on the New Edwards base.

Sylvia had allowed him to speak, only asking for more details on the events surrounding her grandfather.

"We'd been tricked into attacking New Edwards base," Heero said. "Our information told us that the OZ leaders were there. Since OZ was behind everything, we had to take them out. I saw a shuttle taking off and my Gundam told me that it was an OZ vehicle. You know the rest."

"You were played for fools. But you are only children, acting on the orders of others, so I suppose that it was bound to happen at some point," Sylvia opined. When she saw that the pilots hadn't reacted to that barb, she realised that they were quite contrite about their actions. She changed the topic. "Tell me about Relena."

"Relena?" Heero's expression turned dark. "I told her to leave me alone, but she kept following me. Even after I warned her that I was dangerous and being around me would get her killed. Hell, she even tracked me down to another school."

"I can't decide if that's cute or if she's a stalker," the young woman smiled teasingly.

"If someone told you not to follow them and even threatened to kill you if you didn't leave them alone, would you still bother them?"

"Probably not," Sylvia conceded. "So, what about you, Trowa? Is there a girl you like?"

"No, not really," Trowa answered truthfully. "I was too busy with piloting or working at the circus. If you'll excuse me, I need to … You know."

When they were alone, Sylvia commented on Trowa. "He doesn't speak much, does he?"

"It's his best trait," Heero answered. "I've only met one of the other Gundam pilots in person, and he's a pain too. Always talking about something, so he doesn't appreciate the value of peace and quiet."

"You have a lot of anger inside you. It's not healthy."

"I wouldn't say it's anger, more irritation at the behaviour of people who get in the way of my mission."

When Trowa returned and took his seat, Sylvia asked him about his time in the circus.

"It was pleasant. I felt like part of a family," the pilot answered. "Catherine was like a big sister to me. She liked Heero."

"And did you like Catherine, Heero?"

"She was pleasant, attractive and didn't stalk me. Had things been different, I might have considered spending large amounts of time with her."

Sylvia's eyes lit up. 'A chance to play matchmaker!' "So, you're saying that if you were a civilian, you'd date her?"

"Possibly."

Trowa nodded in approval. Catherine needed someone strong who would care for her, who would make her happy. "She always seemed to have a smile on her face after she spent time alone with Heero."

The blonde looked at Trowa's expression as she considered his words. There was an innocence about his comment that didn't fit with his role as an experienced mobile suit pilots. Sure, there were always exceptions to rules, but soldiers were not the sort who'd miss clues like that. 'I guess they are still kids.'

She turned to see the neutral expression on Heero's face. "So, what did you do with Catherine that was so much fun?"

"Do you really want to know?"

Before a response could be uttered, the door to the café opened and in walked an OZ officer with three armed soldiers in tow.

"There," the officer, a young woman said as she pointed towards the Sylvia's table.

The soldiers strode up to the table. "Gentlemen, please come with us."

"Why?" Heero asked. He casually reached for and concealed a knife. It wasn't what he wanted to use, but it would do the trick to eliminate these threats.

"Because we know who you are, Heero Yuy. And we have something for you," the officer said.

"Two rounds in the back of the head and a shallow grave each?" Heero said, looking for the best attack vector and escape route. "You shouldn't have."

"We're not here to kill you," the officer insisted. "Please, we will explain en route."

"Lieutenant…" one of the soldiers said, gesturing to the woman sitting with the Gundam pilots.

"Sylvia Noventa," the Lieutenant bowed respectfully. "Please excuse our intrusion, but we have orders to bring Heero Yuy with us."

Sylvia looked at the two teenagers. They seemed like they were ready to fight their way out of this. It would end badly and someone would lose their life. "If that is the case, then why don't you tell us who gave the order?"

"Colonel Zechs Marquise."

"Why does he want us?" Heero asked.

"Because you're a Gundam pilot."

"So am I," Trowa said.

"What do you want us to do, Lieutenant?"

"Come with us as well. Please." The officer was getting concerned that this was going to turn from a simple pick up into a violent incident.

Sylvia wasn't sure what she wanted the pilots to do. She knew she didn't want the scene to turn violent, but the only way to avoid that was for the boys to go with the soldiers. There was no telling what would happen to them once they were in OZ's hands.

"Promise me that they're going to be treated properly."

"Those are our orders, Ma'am."

"Heero, you said your life was in my hands, well, I'm handing you over to these soldiers," Sylvia said. "Lieutenant…?"

"Noin, Ma'am."

"Lieutenant Noin, I'm holding you personally responsible for their safety. If they're treated poorly, I will hear of it and I will take action."

Lucrezia Noin wasn't sure what power the Noventa family still had, but if they were close enough to have tea with these Gundam pilots, they could have influence over the others. "I will treat them like they were my own family," she said with a bow.

* * *

Relena Darlian was thinking about Heero Yuy. It was not uncommon, though this time, she was thinking about him still being alive as opposed to him using her body for all of his lewd needs.

That would come later, when she was alone in her bedroom.

"I can't find any reference to that Gundam pilot dying in that battle in Siberia," Pagan commented as he worked the computer.

"I knew it! Heero is still alive!" Relena declared happily. "I just need to find him."

"That is proving to be quite tricky. His ability to travel incognito has been enhanced by the loss of his mobile suit. But I have found some references to him in the Alliance databases. Do you want me to access the dossier?"

"Please," the teenager smiled happily. "I want to know as much about Heero as I can."

Pagan nodded and continued his work on the computer. "Oh my…"

"What's that, Pagan?"

"This… These are medical records, I'm not sure that we should be accessing these," the old man said, trying to avoid allowing Relena access to some images that wouldn't be out of place in a trashy romance novel.

"I need to know all about him," Relena insisted. Then she saw the pictures of Heero's well-muscled torso. "Oh Heero, why are you tied up like that?"

"Apparently, it's from the time he was in the hospital, Miss Relena. He was a person of interest in the explosion at the Marina."

"Yes, I remember that," Relena nodded. Absently, her hand went to her throat. 'That was the first time Heero touched me…' Now a new train of thought entered her head. 'If Heero was tied up, I could be the one doing the lewd things… But what would I do? I should do some more research.'

Relena studied the picture further and decided that this research would be her homework for the night. 'I wonder what D'Iscarica has on the matter… I should print off a copy of that picture, too.'

* * *

Lieutenant Noin looked at the two pilots as they discussed the Gundam ahead of their meeting with Zechs. There was something unsettling about seeing two people that young discussing the state of the art war machine they piloted.

An OZ soldier approached her. "We could get rid of them en route, Lieutenant. It would save Colonel Zechs trouble."

"No," Noin replied. "You don't understand what the Colonel's plan is. He wants a rematch with the same Gundam pilot. He has to test his skills."

"But…"

"We have our orders, soldier. We will bring them and that mobile suit to Colonel Zechs. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Lieutenant."

Noin turned her attention back to the Gundam pilots. There was something about the injured one, Heero, that intrigued her. She wondered if it was the fact that he kept pushing forward despite his injuries or something deeper.

'Reminds me of Zechs…'

"Lieutenant Noin!" a voice called from the front of the carrier.

"What is it?" the Lieutenant asked turning to the voice.

"We've got company! There are three carriers on our tail!"

"Damn it!" Noin cursed as she headed to the cockpit.

Trowa nudged Heero. "I think there's a problem."

"Why am I not surprised?" Heero said, pulling himself out of Gundam cockpit. "Let's go find out what's going on."

In the cockpit, Noin was struggling to find a suitable solution to their current problem. She knew they were outnumbered by the OZ troops that pursued them.

"We could drop the two Aries we're carrying to slow them down… We'd be able to speed up to outrun the Carriers."

"That would be a suicide mission," Heero said. "Three carriers, assuming at least three mobile suits each. Nine mobile suits, if they're all Aries, you'd be done for and they'd be able to pick us off at their leisure."

"What do you suggest?" one of the OZ soldiers asked, snapping at the Gundam pilot.

"This isn't a standard carrier, does it have any weapons?"

"Yes, but we don't have the manoeuvrability to take on Aries in a dogfight."

Heero turned to Trowa. "How do you feel about a little delaying action? I wouldn't ask you to do this if I could pilot myself."

"I know," Trowa smiled. "It would be my pleasure to help out."

"Wait!" Noin protested. "I've got orders to get you to Zechs."

"And we'll get there or die in the attempt," Heero replied. "Show me the weapons on this carrier, maybe I can slow them down enough to the point where Trowa doesn't have to launch."

"It's a forward firing laser turret, the fire control is here," Noin said as she gestured to the gunnery position. "What's your plan?"

Heero looked at the controls and determined that he wouldn't have too many shots with the laser before the range was too close for comfort. "How much flight time do we have left and what's our distance and ETA to their interception?"

"We're good for another hour or so of flight time, the time to base is 27 minutes at current speed. They'll catch up to us in seven minutes."

"Take us up as high as we can go, then circle back. We'll come at them from the sun, take out the carriers. If we can't take them all out in the first assault, we'll launch the Aries. We can afford to circle for ten minutes taking shots at them. If they launch their suits before we can take them out, we'll drop Trowa," Heero said. "We might need backup from the base. Do they have any in-flight refuelling capability?"

"No," Noin answered. "It wasn't deemed a risk for this operation."

"Unfortunate, but understandable," the injured Gundam pilot nodded. "Have you got any survival gear in your mobile suits? I don't need you freezing to death before we pick you up."

"But you aren't planning for us to launch," the second Aries pilot replied.

"You have to be prepared for the worst, otherwise you're done for," Heero chided. "Who was your instructor?"

"That would be me," Noin answered testily.

"Given how your mobile suits explode if the pilot has a bad case of gas, I can't say that I'm surprised you don't have a doctrine for extended operations. Put some gear in your mobile suit and get ready to launch."

* * *

To be continued…


	8. Part 8

Heero Sandwich

By Lord Raa

* * *

Disclaim-me-do: Besides, what is better wank fodder than random, anonymous nudity?

* * *

Part 8

* * *

Lucrezia Noin was considering the Gundam pilots in a new light. Having seen the firepower the Heavyarms unit could bring to battle in person, she could understand why so many OZ mobile suits had been destroyed. Trowa Barton was all quite skilled.

But there was something about Heero that intrigued her more. Not that it was a lack of information thing, as Heero spoke more than Trowa, but it was Heero's skill set. It was like he could use anything he learned to improve the odds of his mission success.

Then there was the way he took charge of the situation with the search party. He took in all the available information about their situation and formulated a winning strategy in seconds. His skills at the controls of the laser turret were also impressive with barely a wasted shot.

She approached Trowa Barton and spoke to him.

"Heero Yuy has a tactical awareness that I've never seen before. How does he do it?"

"I don't know either," Trowa admitted. "He's able to foresee certain problems. Like when we…"

Noin smiled when she realised why the Gundam pilot had trailed off. "Don't worry about that. Tell me more about Heero."

"Heero Yuy is a skilled pilot and the best soldier I have ever encountered. It's fortunate for OZ that there's only one Heero Yuy, otherwise this war would already be over."

"You don't really believe that, do you?"

"I would follow his lead to gates of Hell," Trowa said earnestly. "Can you say that for any of your superior officers?"

The Lieutenant was left to ponder that as Trowa left to see if he could help Heero prepare the Gundam for upcoming duel.

* * *

Relena Darlian had finally completed the paperwork regarding her birthright. She was now officially Princess Relena Peacecraft of the Sanc Kingdom. Her new status hadn't resulted a jarring change in her lifestyle, thanks to her adoptive family's status and the continued help of Pagan as driver and manservant.

One thing that definitely hadn't changed was her tenacity and resourcefulness. She'd discovered that Heero was in Antarctica and had chartered a private plane to head to the frozen continent to bring him back.

That was her plan and it was a good plan.

However, some OZ troops had other ideas and two Aries mobile suits were trying to intimidate her into leaving the area.

"Pagan, get us to Barkley base!"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Wait, is that Heero?"

On the ground, Trowa had targeted the two Aries suits that were harassing the aircraft and fired the Wing Gundam's buster rifle.

"¬Heero?¬" Relena asked over the radio.

"He's fighting a duel," the Gundam pilot answered. "Get out of here before they send another search party."

* * *

The duel with Zechs was going well for Heero. He'd managed to pick up on the damage to the left arm of the Tallgeese and was working on that with the beam sabre that Trowa had installed.

The Heavyarms lost its footing under the shifting ice and Zechs was about to move in for a killing blow when a civilian aircraft entered the arena.

"¬HEERO!¬" can the voice of a young woman over the radio.

"Relena…" Heero sighed.

"¬Heero, I have a letter for you.¬"

"I'm a little busy right now, Relena."

"¬But I have a message from Marshal Noventa's daughter,¬" Relena insisted. "¬It's how you should live your life.¬"

Heero face-palmed. He looked over to his right and saw the self-detonation device. 'Maybe… No, I couldn't do that to Trowa. Not after he helped me.' He took a deep breath, ready to steel himself for whatever nonsense Relena had for him when he realised he was still holding the beam sabre.

'Yes, this would be a great chance!' the pilot decide. He moved Heavyarms to get a better chance to throw the energy weapon at the moving target.

Zechs stepped in with the Tallgeese. "¬The search party is heading here. We will continue this another time, Heero Yuy.¬"

"But… I was going to kill…" Heero muttered through gritted teeth. Evidently, the gods smiled upon Relena. 'One day, I will be free of her.'

* * *

As she retreated from Antarctica with the Gundams and their pilots, Lieutenant Noin mulled over the effects of Heero Yuy's behaviour could have on an impressionable teenage girl, like Zechs' sister, Relena.

Relena had risked life, limb and incarceration by coming to see Heero. And yet, Heero was annoyed by her presence. Sure, Heero wasn't a normal kid, but there was something weird about him not liking Relena.

After stowing the Gundams in their carrier, the Lieutenant approached the pilots for more information. As Heero was still in pain, Noin opted to question Trowa instead.

"Trowa, can I ask you a question?"

"Yes."

"What's the deal with Heero and Relena?"

Trowa blinked and thought about what he knew about the relationship between the two. "I… I don't know Relena, if I'm honest. Heero is a private person, he doesn't like people trying to pry into his life. I can only assume that Relena has tried something like that in the past and Heero is still upset."

"A fair point," Noin conceded. "I was just curious as to why Heero would be so annoyed. Relena came half-way across the globe to see him, surely that deserves some credit."

"You could ask him," the pilot shrugged. "But given that I've seen Heero survive injuries that would kill a lesser human and kill a grown man with his bare hands, I'd respect his wishes if I was in your position."

Trowa walked away from the Gundams, leaving Noin to consider just how dangerous Heero Yuy was.

* * *

A little later, Noin approached Heero with a cup of coffee. "Here, you should drink this."

"Thanks."

The two mobile suit pilots stood in silence. Heero was content to never have to speak to another human again and so didn't speak if he felt that the situation didn't warrant it. Noin, a more social human, was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

"Heero… Can I talk to you?"

"If you must."

"It's about Zechs."

"What's his deal?" Heero asked before taking a sip from the coffee. It was dark, hot and bitter – just the way he liked it. "Nice coffee."

"Thanks. As for Zechs, well he used to a prince of the Sanc Kingdom," Noin answered. "Well, up until AC 182, that is."

"What happened in AC 182? I was two at the time and I had more important things to study than the history of Earth's monarchies."

"The Alliance invaded. They killed the then king, Marticus Peacecraft. Zechs fled with his sister, Relena." The Lieutenant noticed the change in Heero's body language at the mention of Relena. "You have a history with Relena, don't you?"

"She thought I was dead for six weeks or so. They were the most peaceful six weeks of my life since I came to Earth in my Gundam. Unfortunately, I was unconscious for the first four weeks."

"Relena isn't that bad, Heero," Noin insisted. "Sure, she's strong-willed, but you make it sound like she's stalking you."

"And what would you call travelling to the South Pole just to see someone?" Heero countered. "It's not the first time she's tracked me down. She keeps acting like we're star-crossed lovers or something. That is most certainly not the case."

"Oh, are you just regular lovers?" Noin teased. "Have you kissed her?"

"She kissed me," the Gundam pilot corrected. "She wouldn't have even been in the cockpit if I hadn't acted on instinct and saved her from those mobile suits attacking the school."

Lucrezia pondered this. From his story, Heero's actions would have had a big impact on any young woman, especially if they had been as sheltered as Relena had been. She had to admit that she would have started to develop feelings for someone who'd saved her life like that.

'Especially if he was a cute as Heero.' Noin blinked. 'Just where did that thought come from?'

"Is there anything else you want to talk about?"

"No, I'll leave you to rest," the Lieutenant replied. Mentally, she was chiding herself for allowing her thoughts to wander like that. 'I need to focus.'

Trowa approached Heero.

"I've finished resetting the Gundams to how we like them."

"Thank you, Trowa," Heero smiled. "You're a good friend. Any idea what you're going to do next?"

"OZ is strong here on Earth, but it's much weaker in space. I'm going to aid the Colonies in their fight. What about you?"

"I don't know. Getting off-world sounds like a good idea. Would get me away from Relena."

* * *

Treize Khushrenada sighed as he realised that the actions of OZ had seemed to have a historical parallel to the Alliances actions in the Sanc Kingdom.

'Perhaps this is why Zechs has acted this way?' he mused. His thoughts turned to that of the troops under Zechs' command. 'They must have known that Zechs had been ordered to abandon his work on the Gundam. They are just as culpable.'

The Colonel mulled over his options as he swirled the red wine around his glass. He needed to show that he was a fair and just commander, but also one that would enforce the rule of law.

Discipline was of paramount importance to the military. Without it, they were just armed thugs. But still, the old response of 'I was only following orders' was not an excuse for the committing of war crimes. A soldier did not have to obey an illegal order.

Were Zechs' orders illegal? Well, no. Not in a burn down a building filled with civilians sense, but that they were contrary to the orders of the Romefeller Foundation.

"Amnesty," Treize said. "I will offer the troops an amnesty if they bring me the Gundam and its pilot who Zechs was duelling with."

The Colonel picked up the phoned and issued orders to Lady Une.

"¬What about that second Gundam, Gundam 03?¬"

"It is of no immediate concern," Treize replied. "The Gundam 01 will be sufficient for my plans. Allow Gundam 03 and its pilot to escape off-world."

"¬As you command, Colonel Treize,¬" Lady Une said before carrying out the orders.

'The Gundam pilots seem to be good a duelling. Perhaps I should challenge the pilot of Gundam 01 myself?'

* * *

Lieutenant Lucrezia Noin mulled over the message that had been broadcast by OZ.

If they brought in the pilot of the Gundam that had been duelling in Antarctica, the troops under Zechs' command would be granted an amnesty for their actions. No charges, no demotions, no blots on permanent records.

A clean slate for everyone involved.

Not only that, but Treize Khushrenada had also promised that it would count favourably for outcome of the investigation into Zechs Marquise.

"Lieutenant, what do you want to do?" the comms officer asked.

"It could be a trap. I mean, it wouldn't be the first time OZ has tried something tricky," Noin mused. "But it would help Zechs."

"Lieutenant, I… permission to speak freely?"

"Go ahead."

"This would help more than just Colonel Zechs. It would help everyone who was in Antarctica."

"What would?" Heero asked as he entered the cockpit.

Noin turned to the Gundam pilot and explained the contents of their latest message with a wince.

"What does it say about Trowa?"

"That he's free to go."

"Then do it. I'll tell Trowa he's free to get off-world," Heero replied calmly. "It's the least I can do for him."

"Why would agree to this? You don't know what they've got planned for you!" Noin insisted. "How do you know they're not going to torture you?"

"Treize Khushrenada would never allow that," the Gundam pilot answered. His face acquired a smirk. "Besides, being a prisoner in a military base would mean that Relena can't bother me there."

* * *

Trowa frowned as Heero told him he was handing himself and his Gundam over to OZ.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea, Heero."

"This does guarantee you safe passage off-world. It's the least I can do to repay you for your help with the duel."

"Maybe, but to hand yourself over? What if they execute you?"

"Then my worries will be over," Heero grinned."I didn't think I'd make any friends on this mission, but I can honestly say that I've made one in you, Trowa Barton. Make sure that you take care of yourself."

Trowa started to nod and was surprised by the hand Heero had extended. He shook it. "You too, Heero Yuy."

"And remember to trust your instincts when you're in combat."

* * *

Lieutenant Noin felt terrible about the way she was using Heero. What made it worse was the way he'd almost cheerfully accepted this fate.

It wasn't a death wish, as he could have lost the duel with Zechs at any time. Hell, he could have sabotaged the attempt to evade the search party on the way to the base.

She asked Trowa if he felt that something was amiss with his fellow Gundam pilot.

"He prefers solitude and quiet. I guess he feels that he'll get it in his prison cell."

"But still… he can't hate Relena that much, can he?"

"I didn't ask about her," Trowa admitted. "It seemed to be a sore point with him, and I didn't think it appropriate to investigate. He seemed happiest when he was able to forget about her. I noticed that he seemed a lot more stressed after she showed up during the duel."

The two mobile suit pilots stood in silence as they contemplated Heero and his relationship with Relena.

"Now that I think about it, he seemed to like Catherine a lot more."

"Who's Catherine?"

"Catherine Bloom. She's an acrobat and knife-thrower at a circus I worked at," Trowa explained. "She's a kind person."

Noin nodded. A thought occurred to her. "How did Catherine feel about Heero?"

"She seemed to like him," the Gundam pilot answered. "She was quite happy to spend time with him."

'They must have been dating! No wonder Heero wasn't impressed with Relena if she was interfering with his relationships,' the Lieutenant reasoned. "Well, Relena won't have access to Heero when he's on the OZ base."

"I think that's for the best. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to prepare to leave for the spaceport."

* * *

Heero Yuy walked calmly towards the armed OZ soldiers. He let out a yawn as his escort, Lieutenant Noin greeted the person in charge, Lady Une.

"We're here as per Colonel Treize's orders."

"To think that someone as young as this could cause us so much trouble," Une commented, looking down her nose at the teenaged boy. "And his Gundam?"

"It's on that transport," Noin said, gesturing the to heavy vehicle twenty metres behind her.

"So now what?" Heero asked. "Why was I brought here?"

"You're a prisoner. Prisoners do not get to ask questions. Corporal, search the transport."

"Yes. Ma'am."

'I'm only a prisoner until I confirm that Trowa made it to the Colonies safely,' the Gundam pilot thought. He was already formulating an escape plan.

The buildings were only three or four storeys tall. Certainly survivable if he had to drop out of a window. There were significant gaps between the buildings, reducing his cover from sentries and the towers, but the towers seemed to only be on the main gate.

'This is no prisoner of war camp. Escaping should be relatively easy. I thought they were going to make this a challenge.'

The Corporal signalled to Une that the mobile suit on the vehicle was indeed a Gundam.

"Well, let's get you into our custody. Colonel Treize would like to speak to you, Heero Yuy."

* * *

Treize Khushrenada sat in his office as Heero Yuy was brought in.

"Lieutenant Noin, I hadn't expected you to remain here."

"I… I made a promise, Sir."

"A promise?"

"To Sylvia Noventa, Sir. I promised that I would keep an eye on Heero," Noin explained.

"I see. Well, it is important to keep one's promises," Treize smiled. He turned to Heero. "Are all the Gundam pilots such young men?"

"I have only met two others in person," Heero answered. "Those two were of similar age to myself."

"I'm glad that we can have a civilised discussion. Please, take a seat. Both of you."

The mobile suit pilots took seats opposite Treize.

"So, what did you want to discuss?" Heero asked. He was looking at options for his escape attempt. A quick jump over the table, grabbing a letter opener or fountain pen and holding it at Treize's throat was a good option.

"Well, I'm curious as to why Colonel Zechs Marquise would risk a promising career to indulge in a vendetta with a Gundam pilot."

"You'd have to ask him that."

"True, and I have, but I wanted to get to know his nemesis, find out if there is something about yourself that is particularly vexing," the Colonel smiled.

"I wouldn't describe myself as vexing," the Gundam pilot replied. "Soldier, mobile suit pilot, yes. Vexing? No."

"All things being equal, would you attempt to kill me now if you thought it would aid your mission?"

"I've been thinking about my best options for that since I entered the room."

"I'd heard stories that you were primarily focused on combat. What do you do to relax?" Treize asked.

"I've taken up knife-throwing. Would you like a demonstration?"

"Tempting, but that will have to wait for another time. One where you aren't likely to kill me in an escape attempt."

Heero smiled. "Fair enough. Have you found out what you wanted to know yet?"

"You have defeated many OZ mobile suits. I want to know how good of a mobile suit pilot you are and whether or not your victories have been because your Gundam is a more powerful suit," Treize said. "I think we should put that to the test, don't you?"

"Colonel…" Noin spoke up for the first time in the meeting. "I don't think we should allow that."

"The simulators are quite good these days, Lieutenant, I'm sure that they would allow us to test ourselves without too much risk."

"Simulators…" the Gundam pilot snorted in derision. "They're fine if you're into playing games, but combat is not a game. Treating it like a game will only get you killed."

"Indeed," Treize nodded in approval. The young pilot seemed to appreciate that warfare was a serious endeavour.

A silence descended on the room. The two men found it comfortable, but then Heero always found a lack of conversation comfortable.

The Colonel stood up from his desk. "This has been a pleasant encounter, but I have an appointment. Heero Yuy, you're quite welcome to join me."

"Doing what?"

"Roman bath. I find it heightens the senses and that helps me with decision making."

"But Sir," Noin protested. "To be in such a vulnerable situation…"

"As tempting as it would be for Mr. Yuy to attack me while I'm in the bath, he must realise that my successor might not be as reasonable as I am," Treize said.

"Indeed. Until all the factions make themselves known to me, it would be foolish to eliminate you at this stage," Heero said calmly. "Better the devil you know. As it were."

"But…"

"I promise that I will not make any attempts on the life of Treize Khushrenada while I am a guest here," the Gundam pilot said. "I do not recall breaking my word to you before."

"It's good enough for me, Lieutenant Noin."

* * *

Lady Une was not happy with the bombshell that Noin had just dropped on her.

"Colonel Treize will be alone with that Gundam pilot?" she screamed at the Lieutenant. "How could you let that happen?"

"It was Colonel Treize's idea to invite Heero to the bath. I think he wants to get to know Heero better," Noin insisted. "Heero promised not to make an attempt on Treize's life while he stays here."

Une felt like strangling Noin. Colonel Treize was a great man, but he needed to be protected from himself at times. He was too trusting with his subordinates, the whole debacle with Zechs had proved this. To be alone and unprotected against someone as dangerous as Heero Yuy was beyond foolhardy.

"Yes, and we can rely on the word of our sworn enemy!"

"It's not an illegal order, so I couldn't refuse it."

Une could feel a stress-induced headache come on. They couldn't go in the bath with them, as the Colonel had forbidden such things to prevent accusations of impropriety. 'However…' "Noin, we need to get some surveillance equipment, right now. We're going to keep an eye on them."

"But…"

"You allowed this to happen, so you can help make sure that Colonel Treize is safe."

* * *

Heero and Treize stripped naked as part of their semi-ritualised bathing, with the older man stretching upwards to the ceiling. He turned to Heero and noticed that there was a bruise on his ribcage.

"How did you hurt your ribs?"

"Too close to an explosion," the Gundam pilot answered.

Treize looked puzzled for a moment. "Inside your Gundam"?

"I was on foot," Heero corrected. "I misjudged the distance from a grenade when I was assaulting an OZ base."

"I see," the older man nodded. He stretched his arms outwards. "I like to have a light exercise session before I hit the sauna. It helps with the blood flow and, if I'm honest, I don't have the chance to hit the gym as often as I would like."

The Gundam pilot nodded and started to his own stretching exercises.

* * *

On the floor above the warm pool room, pair of officers started to drill a hole through the ceiling as part of the mission to ensure the safety of Colonel Khushrenada.

The hole they drilled was small, only eight millimetres in diameter, but it was more than enough for them to position the fibre-optic surveillance device to get a good view of the room.

Une powered up the display, as it flickered into life, she noticed that the two men were naked.

"Let's see if Heero has murdered Treize yet…"

"Is everything alright?" Noin asked when the Colonel trailed off. She looked over at the display and saw to nude men exercising. "Oh…"

The pair remained still as they watched both Heero Yuy and Treize Khushrenada perform a series of aerobic jumps. Treize was partially out of frame, but there was no denying that it was him. Yet Une seemed unable to focus on her commanding officer, instead looking at the young man to his right.

"I… this is wrong," Noin insisted.

It was wrong. It was a violation of their privacy and their dignity. It violated a number of military regulations and conventions on the treatment of prisoners. And yet the two women seemed glued to the screen as the pair took a dip into the pool to prepare themselves for their trip to the sauna.

Une's hand moved on its own accord and hit the record button, saving the footage for posterity just as Heero stretched out on his back, floating calmly on the water.

Noin wanted to protest. She wanted to do the right thing. Fortunately for her, Treize told Heero to follow him to the sauna. "The equipment won't work in the sauna."

"Shame…"

"What?"

Une coughed to cover her slip. "I mean, I think we have enough to prove that Heero isn't going to murder Treize. At least, not today."

* * *

Heero had enjoyed his conversation with Treize as they allowed the heat of the sauna to relax them. The pair had discussed mobile suits and their use on the modern battlefield. Treize seemed to approve of the Colonies' decision to go with a quality over quantity approach with Operation Meteor.

"For too long, mechanised warfare has industrialised the slaughter of soldiers. That OZ can field battalion after battalion of Leo mobile suits is causing some military leaders to forget the value of human life."

"True," Heero nodded, sweat dripping down his face. "I have forgotten how many mobile suit pilots and soldiers I've killed. I dread to think how many have died at the hands of the Gundams."

Treize's eyes narrowed. 'He's so callous…'

"It would be a lot easier if we had something like a chivalrous warrior class and duelled instead," the Gundam pilot added. "A series of duels to settle things when diplomacy broke down."

Heero was starting to struggle with the heat now. Fatigue, inexperience with saunas and his injuries were taking their toll on him.

"I… I'm sorry, but I need to leave the sauna," he said, trying to stand.

"Yes, we've been here too long," Treize said. He rose to his feet and helped Heero to stand. "Follow me, we'll go to the pool."

* * *

To be continued…

Are you folks still reading this nonsense? It's my least popular multi-chapter story, so I'm guessing not.

If this isn't your thing, please tell me why you don't like it. Is it my writing style? My interpretation of Heero Yuy? The fact that I've had to trim out some of the adult content?


	9. Part 9

Heero Sandwich

By Lord Raa

* * *

Disclaim-me-do: I think we can all agree if you jam a photocopier and walk away from it you're a twat.

* * *

Part 9

* * *

Ex-Alliance Major, Sally Po was cursing her luck. She'd been captured by OZ forces and had been transported by truck to the nearest base. Aside from the obvious problem of being at the enemy's mercy, this capture also hindered her plan to see Heero Yuy again.

Heero Yuy was a regular feature of Sally's thoughts. Not because of how he would be a part of the downfall of OZ and bring about a new era of peace and justice for the world and the Colonies as he and the other Gundam pilots used their mobile suits to fight the existing order's corruption and tyranny.

No, Sally often thought about how Heero Yuy was more than just a pilot or tool for will of others. Heero Yuy was special. He had a destiny. He…

A voice caught Sally's attention. "Oi, you, what's your name again?"

The Major turned to her guard. "Major Sally Po, Alliance military."

"A traitor, eh?"

"I'm not the one who backed a coup d'etat," Sally shot back.

"Why you-"

The angry guard was stopped by his superior officer. "Stop that, Private. Miss, did you say 'Major Sally Po'?"

"I did," the bound woman replied.

"Well, I have good news and bad news. You're on a watchlist so you're going to have to come with me. Can you stand?"

"Yes," Sally said as she rose to her feet.

"Excellent. Follow me," the Sergeant said. "Private, take the rest of them to the processing centre." He leaned in to speak privately to the soldier. "If you mistreat the prisoners, I'll report you to Colonel Treize Khushrenada myself. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Good. Now, Major Sally Po, let's get moving."

They were ten paces from the truck Sally spoke up. "Sergeant, do you know why I'm being separated from the others?"

"No. It's not my place to question the orders from above," the Sergeant said casually. "Especially when they come from Colonel Lady Une herself."

* * *

Lady Une was surprised to get phone call from an OZ base in South East Asia.

"Colonel Lady Une speaking, what can I do for you, Captain Lee?"

"¬Colonel, I have a Major Sally Po in custody. As per your instructions, I've separated her from the others and await further orders,¬" the young Captain explained.

"Sally Po?" Une repeated in confusion. 'Where have I heard that name before…' "Oh, oh yes, I remember now."

"¬What are your orders, Lady Une?¬"

"Have her sent up to me immediately. I do not mean as soon as possible, I mean literally send her in a fighter jet if that is the fastest way to get her here. Is that clear?"

"¬Crystal, Lady Une. I'm ordering the aircraft to prepare for take off now.¬"

"Good, call me when you have an ETA," Une said as she terminated the call. 'This should help us learn more about Heero Yuy.'

The Colonel's cheeks coloured slightly as she thought about the Gundam pilot and how he didn't feel any shame about being naked. A smile spread across her face as she realised something. 'I will have the opportunity to study him further.'

* * *

Heero Yuy was surprised by his accommodation. He had expected to be assigned some small cell that wouldn't have been out of place in a maximum security prison, replete with bare concrete walls and a toilet within arm's reach of his bed. What he had been given, however, was far beyond his experience and more in common with a five-star hotel.

The room had an en-suite bathroom and was large enough for him to perform short sprinting exercises to maintain his fitness. In fact the only thing that prevented him from having to leave it was a lack of facilities for food preparation.

The pilot inspected the room further, noting that there were some tapestries and paintings on the wall, all with gilded frames. It was art, and as such, had little meaning to Heero, though he was able to appreciate the amount of effort required to make the tapestries. They had some value and were probably flammable, making the lack of a stove all the more logical.

Heero looked at the window and frowned when it wouldn't open. Evidently, OZ expected there to be an escape attempt at some point. Beyond the glass was a balcony that looked out onto the grounds, and if he could access it, freedom.

'After all, I promised not to attempt to kill Treize Khushrenada while I was here, not that I wouldn't attempt to escape,' he thought as he looked at how far it was until cover. 'They'll have cameras watching the perimeter, probably some kind of thermal imaging, too. I'll need a distraction.'

The pilot made his way over to the door and found that it was locked when he tried to open it. "OZ isn't entirely stupid."

Heero walked back to the bed and lay down on it. It was warm, comfortable and dangerous. Such comforts would make him lose his edge and he would become weak and soft like some of the so-called elites that played at being a mobile suit pilot.

'Plus it's too exposed out here.'

Looking under the bed, Heero saw that it was elevated high enough off the floor that he could comfortably sleep under it. The floor would be enough for him, anything else would be decadent.

There was a knock on the door. Heero stood up and approached the door, momentarily forgetting that he couldn't open it from his side. He stood three paces away, preparing to disarm a potential assailant.

There was another knock on the door. "Heero, it's me Lieutenant Noin, I've got orders to escort you to dinner."

The Gundam pilot relaxed slightly. Noin might have been Marquises' lapdog, but she wasn't annoying like Relena or creepy like Une.

There was something sinister about Lady Une, Heero had decided. He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was that made him feel that way, but there was an instinct that told him not to trust her. After a moment, he realised that it was because Une had been the one to threaten the Colonies.

'She is a tricky bitch…' he thought as the door opened.

"Hello, Heero," the Lieutenant said.

Heero noticed that she didn't look him in the eye and filed it away for later consideration. "What's for dinner?"

"I'm not sure, but Treize insisted that we dine with him."

"Who else is in the 'we' in this case?"

"Lady Une and Colonel Zechs. Please, follow me."

* * *

The atmosphere of the dining room was already slightly tense, with Une and Zechs having their differing opinions on the Gundam 01. Zechs felt that he still hadn't had the opportunity to settle his score with Heero, while Une was more of the opinion that the Gundams were dangerous and should be destroyed to ensure OZ's plans could still be accomplished.

"Now, now, we will have no unpleasantness with our dinner," Treize warned. "I've invited Heero to join us. I believe that you'll find his insights into mobile suits quite interesting."

"He's not like any other pilot I know," Zechs added. "Even the other Gundam pilot I met had a respect for him."

"He's certainly… interesting," Une confirmed, though she turned to hide her blush. Treize might have trusted Heero, but that didn't mean she had to.

No, the Gundam pilot had to be observed at all times. Especially if he was going to be spending time in the bath with Colonel Treize.

Lady Une had already approached the Intelligence Department for some more robust equipment that could handle the humid environment of the sauna without failing after a few minutes. That was in addition to the cameras that were recording Heero's room.

Noin entered the room with Heero a step behind her.

"Glad you agreed to join us," Treize said. He gestured to the table. "Please, take a seat and we can begin."

Heero nodded and took a seat nearest to Treize. "I apologise in advance for my dinner table etiquette. I'm a soldier, not a gentleman."

Zechs took the seat beside Heero, ensuring that if the Gundam pilot tried something, he would not be able to get away unharmed.

Noin sat opposite Zechs, while Une sat opposite Heero. Une always enjoyed spending time in Treize's company, and the closer the better.

Treize signalled for the starter to be brought in, it was a combination of rabbit poached in a delicate honeyed broth with lightly grilled vegetables.

"I'm told that the chef has won awards for this starter."

Heero looked at the array of silverware before him. There were several knives, forks and even two spoons laid out before him. He recalled the looks he'd gotten when he'd used the first implements that were at hand when he was at Relena's school. Had they not seen him pierce the visor of a fellow student in fencing, they might have been more inclined to mock him for his ignorance of their dining formalities.

He moved his hands to the set of knife and fork closest to the plate that had been set in front of him, only for Treize to cough politely and place his own hands over the outermost set.

'Oh, so that's how it works, from the outside in?' the Gundam pilot mused.

"Please, everyone begin," Treize said gestured with his right hand.

"I can see why the chef has won awards," Une commented. "This is a fine dish."

"It's very good," Heero agreed. "The meat is quite succulent."

The rest of the course was consumed in silence as everyone was hungry. After the plates were cleared, Treize spoke up again.

"I was thinking about what you had to say earlier, Heero."

"Oh?"

"Yes, you commented that generals seem rather detached from realities of the front line. It's unfortunate, but it's true."

"That said," the Gundam pilot countered, picking up his glass of water. "It's easy to miss the bigger picture when you're too close to a situation. You can easily think you're doing the right thing but end up making things worse in the long run."

Une bristled, but remained silent when she saw Treize nodding. That her plan to detonate the missiles at New Edwards had upset Treize still bothered her and was something that had been compounded by his disapproval at the threat to destroy the Colonies.

'I must act more in line with Treize's thinking.'

"It would appear that the key to a good war is balance," Zechs said, reaching for his wineglass. "Balance the concern for human life with the bigger picture of ensuring that the political goals of the war are met."

"Your family believed that war was a thing that could be avoided," Treize said. "The Peacecrafts may have been ahead of their time, but one day, I hope that their vision of a world without war comes to fruition."

Heero winced.

"Is something the matter, Heero?" Noin asked.

"I'm fine," the Gundam pilot lied. 'Why can't I escape the damned Peacecraft family?'

"I was curious as to how you know Relena Peacecraft, Heero," Une said as she prepared for the next course of the meal. "You must have made quite the impression on her, she did follow you to the ends of the Earth."

Heero sighed. "Well, we were at the same school for a while. When someone sent Leo mobile suits to kill her, I saved her life."

"And then?" Zechs asked. He wasn't sure if he liked the idea of his sister being infatuated with a Gundam pilot.

"Well, I left to continue my mission."

The masked man considered this and relaxed slightly. He'd kept tabs on Relena, doing what he could to keep her safe from afar, but he couldn't say he knew her very well after their years apart. "Did you keep in contact with her?"

"No, I tried to keep as far away from her as I could," Heero answered. After a moment, he thought that he better add something to prevent anyone getting the wrong idea. "For her own safety, you understand."

"Of course," Zechs nodded. 'He cares about Relena's well-being.'

Treize smiled as the next course arrived at the table, it was turbot with pickled strawberries and a cream sauce. "This one is a little unusual, but it is innovative in its use of summer ingredients."

"Strawberries?" Noin asked. "On the fish course?"

"Hardly the strangest fish course ever," the Colonel at the head of the table replied. "But that's for another time. Please, enjoy what looks like a nice fillet of turbot."

Heero waited for someone else to pick up the correct cutlery before starting to cut into the tender fish. He didn't eat much fish, and certainly never prepared like this. It was a surprising combination of flavours, but one he and everyone there seemed to enjoy it.

"How do you like the fish, Heero?" Zechs asked.

"It's excellent. The chef really is skilled."

* * *

The main course smelled absolutely divine as it was brought in. The aroma of a sweet and fruity component of the dish intrigued the diners as the plates were set in front of them. It was a mouth-watering combination of a light spice, exotic fruitiness and a good savoury element.

The diners turned to Treize for more information on the dish.

"It's duck with a lightly spiced pomegranate glaze, dauphinoise potatoes and green vegetables. I've been looking forward to this since I saw the menu this morning. Done correctly, duck is the finest of all poultry."

"From our earlier courses, I'd wager that our chef knows what to do with duck," Zechs smiled.

"I hadn't considered duck an option for meals, if I'm honest," Heero said as he sliced into the tender waterfowl. "Real meat isn't on the menu very often in the Colonies."

"I thought they'd started raising livestock," Une replied.

"It's still really expensive," the Gundam pilot added. "The Colony administrators are reluctant, since protein-rich plants also provide oxygen."

"So, Heero, what are your thoughts on the Alliance mobile suits?" Zechs asked.

"Your Tallgeese is the best one you have; if you could field a squadron of those, I'd be worried. Everything else might as well be made of papier-mâché. Get better suits and you won't be sending so many soldiers to their deaths," Heero said before placing a forkful of duck into his mouth.

"I ordered some Gundanium alloy to finish the Tallgeese and repair your Gundam," the masked man said. "The cost was eye-watering."

"Quality costs," Heero shrugged. "I'm not a mobile suit designer, but I can give you some pointers from a pilot's perspective if you're looking to make a suit."

"I might be interested in your thoughts on the matter," Treize smiled. "I've spoken with the local military base and they're willing to loan us some Leo suits rather than the use of their simulators, I can't think of a better way to test our skills as pilots."

"Sir!" the female OZ officers protested in unison.

"I must protest at this plan," Une insisted.

"I too, Sir," Noin added. "To risk your life like this is inappropriate."

Zechs considered this line of thinking. 'Perhaps I should have done this rather than rebuild the Gundam 01?' He turned to face Heero, who seemed to be indifferent to the protests from the other side of the table. "Heero, would you face me in a duel with Leo mobile suits?"

"To the death? Sure," replied the Gundam pilot. "Just let me know where and when."

"Colonel Zechs!" Noin protested. "You can't be thinking of duelling Heero to the death!"

"We'll leave the idea of duelling for now," Treize said. "We should focus on other things for now, like this excellent duck dish."

The other diners nodded and continued the meal. Just as Heero and Zechs had finished their course, a soldier knocked on the door and entered.

"Apologies, but I have a message for Lady Une," the Warrant Officer said with a bow. He walked up to the Colonel and spoke quietly into her ear. "You have a visitor, Lady Une. Ex-Alliance Major Sally Po has just been brought here."

"Ah, please excuse me," Une said with a smile. She dabbed at her lips with her napkin. "Something important has just come up that I have to attend to. Please continue the meal without me."

Treize frowned. "Can it wait, Lady Une?"

"I feel that it's something that I best deal with as quickly as possible," the bespectacled woman smiled. "If only for my own piece of mind."

"Very well, Lady Une," Treize said as he rose to his feet. Zechs and Noin followed immediately, but it took a moment for Heero to recall his manners. "I hope that this matter can be resolved with the minimum of trouble."

Une stood up to leave the dining table. "Thank you, Colonel."

The rest of the diners returned to their seats to finish the course.

After ten minutes, it was time for the dessert course. Treize explained that it was from a different chef to the previous courses.

"A little extravagant to have two chefs of such quality on call," Heero said. He wasn't used to food that was as rich as he'd had. To the Gundam pilot, food was fuel. You needed the right nutrients, but more important was the calorific value as food supplements could take care of any deficiencies.

"We often have guests here," Noin replied. "The members of the Romefeller Foundation are very exacting when it comes to food."

"And not only that," Treize said, picking up his water glass, "We use it as work experience for promising chefs from around the world."

Heero noted that the two other OZ officers' smiles at the addendum of, "That way it's not just decadence," were genuine and not the reactions of toadies and sycophants.

'Treize Khushrenada was the kind of man who could instil a loyalty like no other, it would seem.'

The dessert course was brought in by two stewards, though it was not quite what Zechs and Noin expected. Given the nature of the previous three courses, they were expecting something elegant, refined or perhaps a sophisticated twist on a classic like an ice cream sundae.

"Sir?" Noin asked as the plate were placed before the diners.

"It's a banana cream pie," Treize explained. "Perhaps a little more rustic than one would expect, but this is an upcoming chef from a small island in the South Pacific. Bananas are her favourite food. I'm led to believe that there are a number of flourishes that elevate it beyond the norm."

Zechs nodded. "Is it the young blonde lady?"

"That's the one. I hear she can be a little eccentric, but her skills and techniques cannot be faulted."

Noin brought a spoonful of her dessert to her face and inhaled some of the aroma. "There's some delicate spice in this."

"I'd wager that she made it with different kinds of sugar, too."

The Gundam pilot blinked in surprise. "Brown and white sugar?"

"Yes, but there's more to sugar than just brown and white," Treize smiled as he prepared some of his own food for consumption. "Sugar originally came from the sugarcane plant, and was harvested in South Asia, and when the Americas were discovered and colonised, on plantations there. The crop's heated and the resulting syrup is allowed to crystallise as it cools, creating the white granules in cafés across the world.

"However, that's not all the only source. In Europe, where the climate isn't suited to sugarcane, they grow sugar beet. It requires a little more processing to get it palatable, but that's less of a cost than the transport of cane sugar."

Treize hadn't realised that he'd captivated the table with his little history lesson until he looked up from sampling the banana cream pie.

"Please, continue, Sir," Noin smiled.

"Oh, if you insist," the Colonel smiled. "Well, when you've extracted the sugar from sugarcane, you can boil the cane pulp. By doing so, you create a brown syrup called molasses, which is still sweet enough to use as a food, but is less practical for certain products like soft drinks. However, Molasses does have an interesting flavour and has been used to make rum for centuries.

"If you add molasses to cane sugar, you get brown sugar. The more you add, the darker the sugar and more intense the flavour. It ranges from a light golden colour for your Victoria sponge to a dark brown, where you'd use it in a chutney or a Christmas cake."

"I quite like Christmas cake," Heero said as he prepared a spoonful of the banana cream pie. To the Gundam pilot, desserts were an efficient calorie delivery system.

The rest of the dessert was eaten in a comfortable silence and the table was cleared within minutes. Heero was surprised when a pot of coffee was brought in and four cups were filled.

"I took the liberty," the senior officer explained. "From what I've gathered, you're not used to such food and as such, it was the most suitable digestif. Zechs, we'll forego the brandy and cigars this evening."

"Well," Zechs smiled, "We do have some important matters to discuss in the morning."

Heero lifted his cup to his nose and allowed the aroma to fill his nostrils. He sipped it and determined that while it was a strong brew, it was a light roast. It had a subtlety that the coffee at Trowa's circus lacked. "It's a good cup of coffee."

"You know, you didn't get the full Roman bath experience earlier, Heero," Treize commented.

"I didn't?" the Gundam pilot asked. "There's more to it than a light workout and steam-room?"

"Well, yes. Traditionally, there's the cleaning. It's a little decadent to be covered in olive oil and having it scraped off with a bronze strigil, but it's an experience that's like no other."

"Oh yes," Zechs confirmed. "It's been so long since I had the full experience, I was beginning to think that I might lose my mind."

'Oiled up massage? Steam room? Full experience?' The wine from the earlier courses was now causing Noin's mind to run through the possibilities of Zechs' words and the interpretations did not reflect too well on the blonde man. 'Does this mean that Zechs likes to be rubbed up with oil? Would he want Treize to rub him up? What about Heero? Heero doesn't seem to mind being in such a situation…'

"Noin, is everything alright?" Zechs asked, concern in his voice.

"Why?"

"Your nose is bleeding," Treize said, handing the young woman a napkin.

"Oh, I… I was just thinking about something," the Lieutenant replied as she dabbed at her nose. "But it is getting late, so I'm going to turn in now. Have a pleasant evening."

"Take care of yourself, Lieutenant," Heero said. "I wouldn't want to see you hurt."

Heero's words were intended to prove that he wasn't planning on murdering his way out of the château to escape back up to the Colonies. Treize and Zechs saw them as such and nodded in approval.

Lucrezia Noin, however misinterpreted them thanks to the alcohol in her system and felt a little something stir inside her. "I… thank you, H-Heero."

* * *

To be continued…

Regarding the disclaimer: "twat" should be rhymed with "hat".


	10. Part 10

Heero Sandwich

By Lord Raa

* * *

Disclaim-me-do: Remember that no amount of adornment can make the penis look anything other than disgusting.

* * *

Part 10

* * *

Sally Po was seated in a secure room when Colonel Lady Une walked in. She carried a bottle of water and some sandwiches.

"I'm not sure how long it's been since you've eaten, so I brought these for you," the bespectacled woman said as she placed the tray on the table. "Have something to eat while I explain why you're here."

Sally frowned for a moment before hunger made her reach for a sandwich. "Alright, I'm listening."

"I want to state from the outset that I have no desire to hurt you." Une disconnected the cameras that observed the room. "You have no reason to trust me. I understand that. Were I in your position, I would not trust me either. But there are things to consider before decide on the path we take."

The prisoner nodded. "OK, I'll hear you out before I make any decision."

"That's good to hear, Major." Une sat down opposite Sally. "It was blind luck that you came to my attention. I'm sure that things could easily have gone differently and we would never have met. I know what you're thinking, what could possibly have been the catalyst for this meeting?"

Sally shrugged as she chewed the sandwich. "I don't know."

"It was one little report. A report on a Gundam-"

"So you've met Heero Yuy?" the Major interrupted. Now it made sense why she was here.

"Yes," the Colonel confirmed. "Your report is not what I would consider to be a full dossier, though I thought it thoroughly intriguing."

"Well, I only managed to spend a brief amount of time with him. There's a lot about him for us to discover."

"Us?"

"Clearly you need my help dealing with Heero Yuy. Otherwise, I'd be in a prison camp or dead. So what is it that you want my help with?" Sally asked.

"I… well… Heero is…" Une was uncharacteristically flustered. She coughed to allow herself the chance to compose her thoughts better. "Colonel Treize Khushrenada is planning to duel Heero Yuy to determine who is the better pilot."

"I can see why the Colonel wishes to pit his skills against Heero."

"Yes, but Treize is destined for great things and I cannot allow him to die before his greatness is realised."

The prisoner shifted in her seat slightly. "And what do you want from me?"

"You are the person who knows Heero Yuy the best, can he be trusted not to kill Treize in a duel?"

"Traditionally, duels are not safe activities. Heero is an intense young man, one that I can see getting carried away in the heat of battle," Sally replied. "If you don't want Treize to die in a duel, you should keep him from taking part in them."

"I can't deny Treize anything," Une admitted. "But I still worry about him."

"Understandable," Sally nodded. She took a swig of water. "I know that I would feel the same way if I was in a similar position."

"However, I'm also not sure that I can allow Heero to die in a duel."

Une noticed that Sally also didn't like the idea of Heero dying any time soon.

"There's more to this than whether or not you feel you can trust Heero Yuy, Lady Une. Tell me what it is and I'll help if I can."

"You are in no position to make demands!" The Colonel realised that she'd snapped at the prisoner. "I meant to say that this is a delicate situation. Treize and Heero will have their duel one way or another, but I'll need your help to keep them both safe. Please, tell me something about Heero that wasn't in your report."

Sally could see that Lady Une really was a fellow woman of culture. "I believe that Heero Yuy is the product of a eugenics project."

"Eugenics?"

"Yes," the major nodded. "Genetic engineering, through either gene manipulation or selective breeding suggests that Heero Yuy could be the progenitor of a new phase of humanity. If, and that's a big if, if he survives long enough."

Une pondered this theory. It seemed to fit the available facts they had on Heero. Yes, there had to have been some extensive training to get Heero to his skill level, but a normal human, even if they'd been trained since they were a toddler couldn't have reached Heero's level via training alone.

"And how would you prove such a theory?"

"You could run some genetic tests on a tissue sample," Sally answered. "Though, I can think of a better way…"

The Colonel cast a sceptical look at the Major. "And you think you could be that person?"

"I wish," the prisoner sighed. "I could honestly see myself living off the land with Heero in a farmstead or cottage somewhere far away from civilisation as we raised our family together. Heero would be a good father. At least genetically speaking."

'Children with Heero?' Une thought. She'd only ever thought about having Treize's children, and even then, it was after too much wine and those thoughts quickly focused on making the children. "Wait, what's stopping you?"

"His mission and the fact that we'd have to keep running. It wouldn't be right to raise a child or three on the run."

"Child or three?"

"Heero is the sort that has manly needs that channelled in ways that aren't violent," Sally smiled wistfully. "And I'm sure that with the correct coaching, he could pleasure a woman all night long."

"All night long…" Une murmured. Treize had politely rejected her advances, not even kissing her hand after a dance. 'Treize has always tried to be a gentleman. He's the epitome of nobility and manners. Does he even have the kind of need that we're talking about here? Would it be better to use Heero?'

Using Heero Yuy like that would be wrong. He was the enemy. He was still a child in the eyes of the law. He was also clearly lusted after by this woman opposite her. Une tried to muster the indignation to chide Sally Po, but she recalled that she had footage of Heero naked.

It was a battle between the ensuring the plans of the man she loved versus sating her own desires.

Common sense dictated that she should follow Treize's ideals, even if it meant denying part of her own personality.

Besides which, Heero already had a suitor in Relena Peacecraft. Relena was a better match all round. They were the same age, they weren't on opposite sides of this conflict.

"Wait, doesn't Heero dislike Relena?"

"Hmm?" Sally asked, looking up from her sandwich.

"Sorry, just thinking aloud," Une said. She removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes. "So, how big is this homestead of yours?"

"Men like Heero are few and far between, however I'm not naive enough to believe that it would just be the two of us. If my theory about him being a progenitor is right, then he would have certain inclinations that were they in a lesser man, they would be unforgivable and intolerable."

"What are you saying?"

"In short, Heero Yuy would have to have a harem."

* * *

Lucrezia Noin sat in her room pondering things. She'd felt a little giddy after thinking about Heero Yuy wearing nothing but a coating of olive oil, but that hadn't been the first time she'd thought about naked men.

Hell, the incident in the bath wasn't even the first time she'd seen a man in the nude. There had been the time when she'd caught Zechs changing out of his flight suit.

Zechs Marquise had a more developed physique, the Lieutenant recalled. It was something she decided was due to his age, he was a few years older than Heero, after all. But even now, there was something that the memory seemed to lack.

It had only been a few months ago and the sight of Heero had happened earlier that day, but the freshness of the memories couldn't account for why she thought about the Gundam pilot more.

Over the course of their knowing each other, Noin had flirted with Zechs and he'd seemed to respond when it wouldn't have reflected badly on either of them. But that hadn't been very often. Most of the time, he'd shown concern for her well-being.

'Like a big brother,' she mused. 'Not surprising, given that he is actually a big brother to Relena. Even so, it wasn't right that he would be so oblivious to my advances.'

Noin fell flat back on her bed, the mattress giving a gentle "pomf" sound and looked up at the ceiling, hoping that there would be some kind of answer to be found there. Zechs hadn't told her not to flirt with him, so he didn't dislike their interactions.

"Maybe I should try to make him jealous?" she asked the ceiling. "I could try flirting with another man. But who? Flirting with Treize would make me look like I'm trying to get ahead by sleeping with my superior officers."

Noin turned to look out the window. "What about Heero?"

It was a bad idea. As a Gundam pilot, Heero Yuy was the enemy. Not only that, Zechs' sister liked him. It would complicate matters for her to flirt with Heero.

And Zechs had the inquest into his behaviour to deal with. He was too busy to deal with her affections right now.

'He's been too busy to deal with them for years,' a small voice told the Lieutenant. 'If you do this, you'll know how Zechs feels one way or the other. What's the worst that could happen?'

"What is the worst that could happen?" Noin asked aloud. "That I go on a date with Heero Yuy? Fuck it, I'll give it a go."

* * *

After Heero had retired for the evening, Zechs and Treize were discussing the Gundam pilot and how he and his peers would affect their plans for the future.

"He's a skilled pilot," Zechs confirmed. "But why are you keeping him and his Gundam around?"

Treize smiled. "He said something earlier that intrigued me. It gave me an idea."

"Oh?"

"The goal of world peace is a noble one. However, the end of wars does not mean that there will be an end to conflict." Treize picked up his coffee cup. "We have come along in leaps and bounds in reducing the causes of conflict between people and nations, however, I cannot see a time without conflict that results in people still having their freedoms. To deny people their freedoms is to store up resentment for the future.

"Resentment leads to disharmony, disharmony to dispute and dispute to conflict. We would find ourselves repeating that endless waltz of warfare, reconstruction, opportunism and further conflict."

Zechs considered his friend's words. Khushrenada made a lot of sense. "And what would be the solution to such things?"

"Once world peace has been achieved, I was thinking that we would maintain a standing army for enforcement of rules, but conflicts between nations would be resolved using more refined methods," Treize answered. "In sort, duels between mobile suits instead of wars with mobile suits."

The masked man considered this idea. "It would require a great deal of effort to gain traction between governments on Earth and in the Colonies. It does run the risk of creating legal precedent that one could ask for 'trial by combat' in order to resolve everything from a tax bill to a border dispute."

"The rules for when and where one could resolve a matter with a mobile suite duel would be codified in law. I do not think it would be appropriate to defend oneself from a murder charge with a duel, where one risks killing one's opponent."

"There is also the risk of an arms race as nations develop the optimum duelling suit. Gundanium alloy would have to be highly regulated," Zechs added. "This is an idea that warrants further exploration. It could save a great deal of bloodshed and wasted resources if we were to settle conflicts in such a manner."

"So you would be interested in being an official duellist for OZ?" Treize asked with a knowing smile.

Zechs rose to his feet and stood to attention. "Sir, I would be honoured to perform such a task for you. I formally apologise for my actions in Antarctica. After I finally resolved a long standing personal issue, I allowed my judgement to become clouded after an encounter with a superior mobile suit. I now realise that your solution to warfare would be the future I desire."

"I'm glad to hear this, but we still have the matter of your punishment for your insubordination. There are those that wish to see your court-martial lead to an execution, but I feel that would damage OZ and we need to remain strong while the war continues," Treize opined. "I will do what I can for you, but there will be consequences for your actions. You may find yourself demoted several ranks after a brief period of incarceration."

The blonde man bowed deeply. "I will accept whatever punishment I am due and will do all I can to make things easy for yourself and OZ."

"Excellent, now it's time to retire as we have much to discuss tomorrow in the bath."

* * *

Heero Yuy had spend the night sleeping under his bed. He didn't trust OZ enough to allow himself a luxury that exposed him to potential assailants like that. Besides, the floor was plenty of comfort for him.

There was a knock on the door.

Upon opening it, the Gundam pilot saw that it was Lieutenant Noin standing there with a slightly unsure look on her face.

"Ah, good morning, Heero. I've come to escort you to the bath."

"Bath?"

"Yes, Colonel Treize's orders are for you to bathe with him and Colonel Zechs before breakfast. Apparently, they have something they wanted to discuss with you."

"Lead the way," Heero shrugged. The Roman bathing experience hadn't been unpleasant, aside from the light-headedness he'd felt in the sauna. But now that he knew what to expect, he could prepare himself for the effects of the heat.

Noin nodded and started to walk down the corridor, allowing a gentle sway to her gait. Heero found himself noting that while the tails of her coat covered most of her thighs, the movement of her hips was still visible.

He wondered why she was walking in a slightly different way today. To him it was inefficient with its wasted motion and it attracted attention. Now that Heero thought about it, Noin's chest seemed different. Had she trapped a nerve in her back and this new posture was the only way to go about her day without too much pain?

"Is everything alright, Lieutenant Noin?"

"What do you mean, Heero?"

"Your movements aren't the same as they were yesterday. Are you in pain?"

Noin was glad that Heero had noticed her sway, but was also upset that he had misunderstood it. 'I guess that if you focus on being a mobile suit pilot you have to neglect certain skills.'

"I'm fine, Heero."

"Then why are you walking differently and why did you wince when you answered my question?" Heero asked, folding his arms across his chest. "We're not going any further until you answer me."

"Why would you care about my well-being? You're an enemy soldier," the Lieutenant shot back. "You should be sabotaging everything and everyone you can!"

The Gundam pilot shrugged. "Maybe my new plan is to ingratiate myself with OZ and then destroy it from within. Surely that would be a more effective strategy than allowing a fellow mobile suit pilot to suffer from a trapped nerve."

"A Trojan horse?" Treize asked, walking up to the pilots. "It's a classic tactic, though I wonder who would fall for it these days?"

"Colonel Treize," Noin said, snapping to attention. Heero noticed that while it was the same posture as the salute from yesterday, there was something different about the contours of Noin's chest.

'I don't think it's a different sized tunic.'

"I want to know, Lieutenant, are you injured?" the Colonel asked. "It's important for you to maintain your health and if required, you should visit the medical staff."

"I'm fine, sir," the Lieutenant insisted. She wilted slightly under his gaze. "I'm sorry, sir, the pillows are too soft for my tastes. I'm used to more functional accommodation."

Noin had now gone up in Heero's estimation. She was clearly the sort to put aside personal discomfort to carry out her mission. It was an admirable trait, one that was lacking in the most troublesome of his fellow Gundam pilots, Duo Maxwell.

"Treize, do not be hard on the Lieutenant. She's a good soldier who was only trying to do the right thing," Heero said.

Treize considered the words from the teenager. "I have to agree, Heero."

The Colonel looked around and saw that they were alone. "I wouldn't normally extend this offer, Lieutenant, but you are welcome to join us in the bath this morning. I feel you would benefit from a massage. It would be the least we could do seeing as you were injured in the course of your duties."

Noin was about to decline the generous offer when she realised that it would give her the chance to flirt with Zechs. And if that didn't work, she could always go with her original jealousy plan. "If you insist, Sir. What about Lady Une?"

It was then that Zechs Marquise arrived. "Good morning all."

"Zechs," Treize said after the greetings had been exchanged, "I need to speak to the Lieutenant in private for a moment. Please take Heero to the baths."

"Of course, Sir."

When they were alone, Treize spoke again. "Lieutenant, about Lady Une."

"Sir?"

"How should I put this… Are you familiar with the concept of the bawdy farce? Things like clothes falling off and walking in on people when they're in compromising situations?"

"I'm aware of that happening in movies and TV, but I wasn't aware that was the term used," Noin admitted.

"Well, Lady Une has a knack for turning something normal and innocent like bathing into a bawdy farce. On more than one occasion she's held a towel for me, only to somehow trip on it and land on top of me," the Colonel said.

"I was under the impression that Lady Une has excellent motor control and was quite graceful."

"She has to pour drinks at least two metres away from me, otherwise she spills them on me or herself. It's most disconcerting that these things happen unless there are three other people in the room."

Noin blinked. By the way Treize described things, it seemed that Lady Une was some kind of a sexual deviant. 'Then again, it does explain why she was so insistent on us filming Heero and Treize in the bath yesterday,' she thought. She looked up at the Colonel. 'Best not mention that to him now.'

"Sir, I will try to avoid situations where Lady Une might fall victim to such unfortunate circumstances around you."

"Thank you, Lieutenant."

* * *

Colonel Lady Une had heard that Zechs, Treize and Heero were to discuss a new idea for the future of warfare that morning. It was just the sort of thing that she would have liked to sit in on and had asked about the location of the meeting.

"The bath?"

"That's the message I got from Colonel Zechs, ma'am," the officer on duty replied.

"I see. Well, thank you."

The baths were out of bounds to Lady Une when Treize was using them. Rather than having her become the object of rumour and ridicule, Treize had given the order to Une personally and as unofficially as he could have.

'All because I fell on him when he was naked a few times,' she thought sadly. Une wanted Treize to see her as more than an assistant, as the woman who would bear him strong children. Sadly, it seemed that he was uninterested in her in that way. As she left the command centre, a thought occurred to her. 'I have footage of Treize naked!'

She thought back to the footage of the naked man in the bath and resolved to examine it further in her private office.

Then she had another thought. 'I still have the surveillance equipment and that hole in the bath… I can get more footage and learn about their conversation!'

It was a great idea. It would help her with Treize's plan for the future and it would allow her to spy on the manly specimen she was destined to bear the children of.

* * *

To be continued…


	11. Part 11

Heero Sandwich

By Lord Raa

* * *

Disclaim-me-do: That's not my problem.

* * *

Part 11

* * *

Noin wasn't sure how she should feel about the fact that she wasn't the centre of attention in a room with three other naked people, all of them male. She definitely appreciated the fact that she could see Zechs' piercing blue eyes properly now that he'd discarded his helmet.

The intense look on his face had caused her to shiver in excitement.

Treize seemed a little preoccupied about something as he kept glancing up at the ceiling. It was as if he was plagued by a noise or other irritation that only he noticed.

The Lieutenant realised what it was that was bothering the Colonel and she resolved to not look upwards at the ceiling where she'd drilled a hole to observe things yesterday.

Heero Yuy was the one who was the most active. He'd performed some basic callisthenics as a warm up and was now exercising with purpose.

The Gundam pilot alternated between sets of twenty reps of sit-ups, push-ups and squats. When he'd completed one hundred of each, he allowed himself to relax in the pool.

"That's quite the work out, Heero," Noin commented.

"I've been slacking lately," Heero replied. "I would like to add a good run of about 10km, but I'm not sure that you're going to let me at the moment."

"Unfortunately, you're under house arrest like Colonel Zechs," Treize said.

"So, what was it that you wanted to discuss?" the Gundam pilot asked as he allowed the warm water to lap over his shoulders.

"I was thinking about your comments about pilots, about how the Gundams have a quality over quantity approach. What if we took it a stage further. Instead of wars, conflicts were resolved using duels that were held under a specific set of rules."

"Nations would have champions to fight for their interests," Zechs added. He always liked the idea of duelling with mobile suits, but that had turned into something of an obsession after learning of existence of the Gundams and the Tallgeese. "Wars have often been fought over national pride, this would just mean that fewer lives would be lost."

Heero pondered that line of thinking. Wars were destructive and cost not only the lives of soldiers, but they affected the lives of the families of the fallen soldiers. Sylvia Noventa would still have her grandfather if this had been the way to resolve conflicts.

"It's an idea that has merit. But assuming that this would be a test of skill rather than technologies, what suits would you use?"

"A mass produced suit," Treize said. "A standard outfitted Leo would best."

"What would the weapon load out be? Leos have a tendency to explode when they come under fire."

"Melee," Zechs answered, a gleam forming in his eye.

The other men nodded in approval.

"Plus," the blonde man smiled, "It would be a true test of a pilot's skill. Can you imagine it, two gladiators grappling for supremacy on the field of honour."

Noin's face turned red as, for a moment, she considered the gladiators to be men grappling each other rather than men in mobile suits fighting. She quickly realised her mistake and nodded along with the others in the bath.

'Time to see if Zechs is paying attention.'

The Lieutenant stretched her arms upwards, hoping to draw the blonde's attention to her breasts. "I can see why you enjoy it in here."

"Wait until you experience the sauna," Zechs said. "It's a good way to sweat out what ails you."

Noin frowned as she noticed that the man she wanted to look at her wasn't. Treize seemed to be looking for something, but he was always a perfect gentleman.

Only Heero had directed his gaze towards her, and he was looking her in the face.

"Is something wrong, Lieutenant Noin? Are you still in pain?"

"No, I'm just thinking about something else."

Treize shuddered slightly as he felt a slight chill. "In that case, shall we go to the sauna?"

The sauna always felt safe to Treize. He couldn't quite put his finger on why it was a haven for him, but he certainly enjoyed the steamy warmth.

The quartet rose and made their way to next room.

* * *

Above the main bath area, Lady Une was fuming at the way Noin was acting so nonchalantly around the manly specimen that were Treize Khushrenada.

'Doesn't she realise that Treize is naked and easily within reaching distance?' the bespectacled woman asked. 'And what's she doing trying to draw attention to her breasts like that? If I was there, I'd be oiling him up!'

Une smiled when she saw Treize stand up, but then soon frowned when she realised where he was going. 'Damn that sauna. If only I could get a decent camera in there, I could have all the footage I need.'

Turning her attention back to the people leaving the pool, she noticed that Heero was calm about being around the naked Noin. 'Most boys his age could carry their towels on their erections after seeing Noin naked. What's up with him?'

She was starting to see why Sally Po considered Heero to be so special. To have that level of self-control was impressive.

'Perhaps Heero Yuy is the next phase in human evolution? I should talk to Sally Po and discuss these findings…'

* * *

In the sauna, Noin noticed that Treize had relaxed considerably. 'He must be under a lot of stress with his roles in OZ and the Romefeller Foundation.'

She turned her attention to Zechs, who barely seemed aware of her. Even if he was trying to look away or just stare at the floor, she'd know that he'd noticed her. But something was wrong. She turned to Heero, who would make eye contact with her.

"Is something the matter, Lieutenant."

"I'm just a little bit tired, I'm not used to the heat of a sauna," Noin answered. It was a half-truth, as her experiences of saunas was quite limited.

"Ah, I was going to add some water to the coals," Treize said. "If you're uncomfortable, I'll hold off."

"Oh no, Sir, don't hold back on my account. I'm a grown woman, I know when it's time to stop something."

As the colonel added to the steam, Heero nodded in approval. Noin was quite sensible. Being sensible was a good trait. He decided that if he was to spend the rest of his life with someone, as people had suggested that he do once the war was over, he wanted to spend it with a sensible person.

Lucrezia noticed watched Heero stand up and bend over to touch his toes. Her eyes were drawn to his taut musculature. "I could bounce a coin of that ass…"

Heero stood fully upright and turned to face the Lieutenant. He frowned when he saw that she was a bit more red-faced than before. "Lieutenant, perhaps you should take a break from the steam? I made the mistake of staying in too long yesterday and it took a while to recover."

"Yes," Noin nodded. She blinked when she saw Heero hold out his arm for her.

"Please, allow me to help you to the pool."

"Very well, Mr. Yuy, I'll accept your offer. You're quite the gentleman," the Lieutenant said, she cast a glance over towards Zechs, who seemed indifferent to the whole situation. 'What's wrong with you, Zechs?'

The pair stepped out of the sauna and into the warm pool.

"Oh, that's nice," Noin said, leaning back against the edge of the pool. She looked up at Heero. "Is something the matter, Heero?"

"Do you like Zechs?"

"I… Well, that's none of your business!" the Lieutenant said, suddenly moving an arm to cover her breasts.

"True, but it's just that you've been looking at him a lot since we came in here," Heero replied. "Either you're eyeing him up for an assassination attempt or you like him. And to be honest, I don't really care what your plan is."

Noin shifted to get a better look at the Gundam pilot. "So why bring it up?"

"Because I don't like people throwing things at me," the young man replied. "By getting your attention, I should only have to give you one warning."

"What?"

"I heard your comment about you being able to 'bounce a coin off my ass.'"

"I… that wasn't about trying to throw things at you, Heero," Noin blushed. "It was meant as a compliment. Your body is impressive."

"You're not the first person to comment about my body," Heero said as he stepped into the pool.

The young woman considered that. She was sure that Une had commented on Heero and Treize's bodies when they'd kept tabs on their bath yesterday.

"H-how many people have seen you naked, Heero?"

"No idea. You, Zechs, Treize, Catherine Bloom, some of the nursing staff at the hospital I stayed in. Maybe a doctor at the circus I stayed at for a while. Plus whatever medical staff helped me in the Colonies. Why?"

"No reason," Noin replied unconvincingly. 'Wait, Catherine Bloom? That's the girl Trowa Barton mentioned…' "What was your relationship with Catherine?"

"Pleasant."

"You'll have to give me more than that, Heero."

"We had sex a few times," the Gundam pilot answered neutrally.

"Sex?"

"Yes, it was better than the time with Relena," Heero said distractedly. He could feel a headache coming on.

Things were taking a weird turn with this line of questioning, Noin decided. First Heero heard her comment about bouncing a coin off his ass and interpreted it as a potential threat rather than the praise about his muscle tone that it had been its intention. Now it seemed that Heero had been having sex with Catherine Bloom before he left to come to Antarctica and not only that, he'd done it at least once with Zechs' sister, Relena.

"You did it with Relena? You know she's heir to the Sanc Kingdom throne, right?"

"I don't care if she's going to be Queen of the Solar System, I don't like her and I'd rather not be near her." Heero's headache was starting to come on now.

"But…"

"If I could, I would end her life here and now, drown her in this pool. She's caused me nothing but bother in the short time I've known her."

Noin pondered this. Relena was a strong-willed young woman with considerable resources at her disposal. She was also attractive and kind. In theory, she should be the perfect woman for a young man like Heero Yuy. So why would he display such animosity towards her?

"At least with you, you understand the realities of conflict and risking one's life for a cause rather than a whim," Heero sighed.

"Me?"

Heero held a finger up to his lips and looked upwards at the ceiling. He pointed to a dark circle.

"What's that?"

Heero moved closer to Noin and dropped his voice to a whisper. "I think we're being spied upon."

"Ah, I can explain," the Lieutenant said, feeling rather embarrassed.

"Was the person spying on the pool hoping to see naked men? I've been led to believe that all they need to do is say they're a woman on the internet and they can get all the photos of penises they could want."

"It wasn't that they wanted to see penises, Heero, they wanted to make sure that you…" Noin trailed off as she realised was confessing to a crime.

Heero frowned, but before he could press the issue further, Zechs and Treize walked out of the sauna smiling happily. The two colonels were sweaty and jovial, leading the two people in the pool to draw two different conclusions.

To Heero, the pair were old friends who'd recalled an event from their past that had renewed their bond.

To Noin, the pair had indulged in something else, something that would have made the sauna an even steamier environment. 'Probably gave each other handjobs… That would explain why Zechs wasn't looking at me.'

The Lieutenant frowned. 'Have I been barking up the wrong tree with Zechs? Should I have picked up a hint earlier?'

She turned to Heero who just shrugged.

'Maybe I should put the moves on Heero?' Slipping a hand under the water, Noin reached out placed it on Heero's thigh. 'He's so muscular…'

Emboldened by the lack of a negative reaction, the Lieutenant's fingers worked their way up the Gundam pilot's leg.

'I shouldn't do this, not now, not in front of everyone. But just a little further…'

Zechs and Treize stepped into the pool, providing a distraction that was excellent cover for Noin's exploration of the young man to her right. A fingertip brushed up against Heero's penis, causing him to turn to Noin.

"As pleasant as this bathing experience is, I have other things to do. I will see you all later," Heero said, standing up exiting the pool. "Hopefully, I will be able to come up with some plans for your duelling idea by this evening, Colonel Treize."

"Until later, Heero," Treize smiled politely.

"He's quite the young man, isn't he?" Zechs added when Heero had left. He and Treize missed the look Noin gave him.

'Don't you dare…'

"I, too have things to which I must attend. Colonels," Noin left the pool and walked to the changing area.

"Is she alright, Zechs. She seems a little on edge."

"I'm not sure. She might be worried about the upcoming court-martial."

* * *

In the changing area, Noin saw that Heero was casually drying himself off. He had a towel around his head and didn't seem to care who could see his naked form.

"Heero… Can I ask a favour of you?"

"Yes, but I can't make any promises," the Gundam pilot answered. He turned to see that Noin was standing there, water dripping from her well-toned naked body. "When I said I'd see you later, this was not what I meant."

"I know," the Lieutenant smiled. "I just… I… Look, my ego has taken a bit of a bruising today. I don't know if it's better that you said what you did before or after it get bruised."

"What do you want me to tell you? A beautiful lie? The harsh truth? Where the clean towels are?"

Noin smiled. "Please, where are the towels?"

"Here," Heero handed the naked woman a clean towel. "The truth is I think that you're an attractive woman, Lieutenant Noin. Maybe in another life, we could have a relationship. But as it stands, I am your prisoner. Do you need anything else?"

Noin processed Heero's words. 'We could have a relationship…' "I think that's all for now, Heero. Thank you."

Heero was about to turn his attention back to drying himself when he saw the raven haired woman towel herself dry. Again, the Gundam pilot noticed that the motions weren't as efficient as his own; that she was almost making a show of it.

The movement of Noin's hands seemed to draw his attention to her breasts and thighs. When she was sufficiently dry, she walked past the stationary young man and gently cupped his penis in her left hand. "My, my, what a dangerous weapon you carry, Mr. Yuy. We'll have to be careful about discharging it."

Heero looked on in confusion for a moment before realisation hit him. 'This is like with Catherine in the woods. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?'

Shaking his head, the Gundam pilot returned his attention to drying himself off and getting dressed. 'I don't need anyone else grabbing me like that today.'

* * *

In her private office, Lady Une was interrogating the prisoner, Sally Po.

At least, that was the official reason for the ex-Alliance Major to be in the office.

Une had decided that Sally Po had more information for her about Heero Yuy. Information that couldn't be passed on in the interrogation rooms for fear of being leaked to third parties. OZ might have worked with the Romefeller Foundation, but that did not mean they told them everything.

Besides, the people in the Romefeller Foundation would not approve of the footage that was being watched by the two women.

"That's Zechs, Treize, Noin and Heero," Une said as she pointed to each person in turn.

"Heero seems to enjoy working out," Sally commented as she watched the young pilot complete the last of his squats before climbing into the pool.

"One thing that worried me was that he didn't seem to react when he saw Lieutenant Noin naked. And you could tell from when she stepped into the pool that both Zechs and Heero could see everything."

Sally shook her head. "Heero didn't need to react, so he didn't. His body is tuned to peak efficiency and he has control over his autonomic nerve functions. He doesn't get erect unless he wants to get erect."

"So you're saying that we have to get him to want to be erect before we see it?" Une asked. She wasn't sure how to feel about that scenario.

"You don't quite get it, do you, Lady Une? Heero isn't just a sex machine you can tell to fuck you within an inch of your life, he's got to find his own place in the world. I told you last night that Heero's place in this world involves him having a harem," the Major said. "And with that harem, a large number of children to pass on these perfect genes to refresh the bloodlines of noble houses across the world. Or create a new world order. Whatever it is that Heero wants.

"When it comes to Heero Yuy, I'm easy."

"You'd fuck Heero here and now, wouldn't you?" Une asked, looking down her nose at the prisoner.

"I'd fuck YOU here and now if Heero told me to," Sally said, reaching out and placing a hand on Une's thigh. "For Heero Yuy, there are no limits."

"You barely know Heero Yuy and yet you'd do anything for him." The Colonel brushed the hand off her thigh and stood up.

"What's the penalty having this footage, Colonel Lady Une?" Sally said looking up at her interrogator. "You've broken countless regulations to get it. And yet you risk everything for more contact with Heero Yuy. Embrace your feelings for him, I have and I'm at peace with myself."

"You make it sound like being near him is a religious encounter. I was at dinner with him last night, and I can assure you that I had no such experience."

The Major stood up, removed Une's glassed and looked her straight in the eye. "Trust me, I can make this better."

Une was taken by surprise by the way Sally slipped her tongue into her mouth. She struggled, but as it had been a long time since she'd been kissed by anyone, certainly never like that by another woman, and eventually succumbed to the gesture.

The kiss was broken and Une was conflicted. She loved Treize. He was a manly visionary with goals for the whole of humanity. Heero was just an infatuation brought on by a lack of progress with Treize. The fact that he was well-muscled and attractive and could stare down a great white shark might have contributed to this infatuation.

Now Sally Po was kissing her and holding her close, just like she'd dreamed about Treize doing to her. Only now, she was whispering into her ear that she should allow Heero Yuy to use her like a fuck toy.

It was tempting, but she had to resist. She couldn't allow Colonel Treize's plans to be delayed by allowing Heero to claim her for his harem. She had to allow Treize to follow his dreams, and those dreams did not include having her uniform opened by the woman who was obsessed with bearing Heero Yuy's children.

But hot damn, did it feel good to have her breasts squeezed like that. To have her throat kissed. To be helped out of her bra and leggings.

"OOOooohhh," Une gasped as she felt a tongue probe her womanhood. It was wrong, but it felt so right. She looked down and saw the brunette look up at her from between her thighs. "W-why are you doing this?"

"Because… I… have… to… show… you… the… future…" Sally replied. Sally stood up and kissed the Colonel on the mouth again. "This future is yours for the taking, but you have to want it for yourself."

"What if I don't want Heero?"

"Then help me find those that do and weed out those who are wrong for him," the Major said, running an index finger through the bush between Une's legs. "But you can't deny that being in Heero's harem has benefits…"

Une was kissed passionately again. 'She's so damned persuasive.' "I must keep myself pure for Colonel Treize. Unnh."

Sally smirked as the moans of pleasure that were escaping from the normally stern and severe Lady Une. "Pure for Colonel Treize? He didn't even invite you to take a bath with him. How do you know he even wants you?"

"I… just… know… He… likes… ohh… Elegant women…"

"Do elegant women stalk the men the love? Do they take lewd images of them?" the Major asked. "Because that sounds more like the actions of a dirty, shameless woman. One who needs a man like Heero Yuy to save her from her own deviancy…"

"Unn… Yes… Save me from myself!" Une screamed as she came from the skilled touch of the Heero-obsessed woman. Breathing hard, she slumped backwards against her desk.

"We'll need to draw up a plan for Heero. I think we'll need to keep him in a safe environment, one free from battle," Sally said as she wiped her fingers on a tissue. She replaced Une's glasses on her face. "You are a strong, sexy woman, Colonel Lady Une, and you deserve the best humanity has to offer: Heero Yuy."

Sally's affirmation percolated around the Colonel's head as she regained her composure. She was right, Une deserved the best. Maybe that was Heero Yuy, maybe that was Treize Khushrenada.

"I will help you, Major Sally Po, but I cannot allow a prisoner to walk around here. You will have to join OZ."

"I humbly submit my application to OZ," the Major bowed deeply.

* * *

To be continued…

This chapter was edited slightly to comply with site rules on adult content. If that's a problem for you, well, too bad.


	12. Part 12

Heero Sandwich

By Lord Raa

* * *

Disclaim-me-do: The problem is NOBODY asked for this.

* * *

Part 12

* * *

Relena Peacecraft was now formally a student in her birth nation of the Sanc Kingdom. She was attending the most prestigious school in the land and making friends with the rest of the student body.

It could be said, with reasonable confidence, that things were going well for the young woman as she adapted to her new life. However, there was one problem for the princess.

Heero Yuy seemed to have fallen off the face of the Earth.

Relena had managed to track him down to Antarctica, but after she'd interrupted his duel with Zechs Marquise, there had been no trace of Heero.

There had been a rumour that Heero had been captured by OZ, but that had not been confirmed. Relena had managed to contact the other Gundam pilot that had been with Heero in Antarctica, but he'd now left for the Colonies, as had the other Gundam pilots. She was now running out of leads.

"Oh, Heero, where have you gone? I never meant to hurt you…" the princess sighed. She pondered what she could do to win him back. They'd already had sex, but was what they'd done enough for a man like Heero? Her research on the subject of sexual relations between men and women had thrown up some interesting ideas for how she could have fun with Heero once they were reunited.

"But how do I get to be with Heero again?"

Nearby, a blonde girl of a similar age to Relena listened in to the princess's lamentations. 'Heero? Does she mean that Heero Yuy person? I'll have to check my sources…'

* * *

Back at the château where Heero Yuy was being kept, the Gundam pilot was scribbling down notes for Treize Khushrenada's plans for a more noble resolution to conflict.

Was it little better than attempting to co-opt sport for political gains?

"No, it was much better," Heero decided. Despite the occasional shedding of blood during certain sporting events, this would give a much more satisfying conclusion to a conflict.

The thought of being able to duel with other skilled pilots was a pleasant one, one that Zechs Marquise seemed to relish. 'Maybe one day, I'll fight with him again?'

The Gundam pilot considered the merits of allowing nations to develop their own mobile suits, but that would lead to an arms race between groups that could easily spin out of control. So the duellists would have to use supplied mobile suits.

The downside of that was that stock mobile suits currently used by OZ were of such poor quality, the duels would probably end with both combatants being incinerated by their exploding suits.

Heero stood up from the desk and started to pace around his room as he tried to work through a solution to this problem. He turned to look at a painting that was on the wall.

The pictured depicted a gladiatorial encounter from Ancient Rome. A man with a brimless helmet, sword and large shield faced off against a man with a net and a trident.

"Why aren't they fighting with the same equipment? Surely it would be a cleaner and clearer test of skill if they had the same equipment?"

There was a knock on the door before it was opened.

"Heero."

"Treize."

"I'm inviting you to dinner again tonight. I believe it's the best way for us to discuss our ideas," the Colonel said. "I feel it's the most civilised way to go about it."

"I accept your invitation."

Treize smiled. 'Heero may lack the social graces of the Romefeller elites, but he's a far better person than most of them.' "What seems to have caught your eye?"

"This picture," Heero said pointing to the recreation of the gladiatorial scene. "The two fighters don't have the same weapons. Do you know why?"

"Ah, the old retiarius and secutor," the older pilot smiled. "It's a Roman thing. They wanted to see how different weapons and fighting styles compared in the arena. They would regularly pit seemingly mismatched opponents against each other for their entertainment, though one could argue that it would help the army learn how to fight different armies."

"Having a randomly assigned mobile suit would prove one's skill…" Heero said. "I think I might have solved a problem. I'll bring some notes to dinner."

"I look forward to hearing your ideas, Heero. Until later."

* * *

Lucrezia Noin was not having a productive day. Her attempts to focus on her work were being scuppered by her mind replaying the events of the morning.

That Zechs Marquise, the errant son of the king of the Sanc Kingdom, had seemed to enjoyed an intimate experience in the sauna with Treize Khushrenada seemed wrong. Such things were the thoughts of lonely women who fetishised the romantic love between two men. But then, there was the way he'd ignored her gentle pursuit of him over the years.

Lucrezia was a woman of culture, someone who knew the rules of the social circles in which she inhabited. She knew that stories would dog her for years to come if she was to pursue overtly a man. She'd heard the stories of a Japanese noblewoman lusting after a somewhat uncouth martial artist.

There were a number of issues with those stories, with a number of contradicting opinions on the events in them, but one thing was certain, the stories all reflected badly on noblewoman in them.

No, Noin was unable to tell Zechs how she felt in the simple terms that a soldier would understand. Not that Zechs was a simple soldier, his upbringing and training had taught him to pick up on the more subtle aspects of human behaviour and body language.

It would seem that Zechs Marquise simply wasn't interested in her.

There was another man who didn't seem to object to her company though. He was a little younger, but he certainly wasn't waiting for puberty to hit.

Noin smiled as she recalled the way that Heero Yuy had looked at her as she'd dried herself off after the morning bath. That smile widened and her cheeks coloured as she recalled touching Heero's weapon and joking about discharging it.

The Lieutenant leaned back in her chair and looked upwards towards the heavens. 'Heero…' She glanced at the clock and realised that it was still early in the afternoon. 'It's going to be another five and a half hours before I see Heero at dinner.'

A cheeky thought entered her head. A thought that was a bad idea. A terrible idea. The kind of idea that ruined careers and reputations.

And yet, Noin was still moving towards the door and up to the room where Heero Yuy was being kept under house arrest in.

* * *

Heero frowned at the knock on his door. Fortunately, he'd managed to complete a draft of his proposal. Everything else was just refinement, and even then, he couldn't refine the proposal properly without feedback from Colonel Treize and the others.

"Come in," the pilot said turning to face the door.

The door opened and in walked Lieutenant Noin.

"Good afternoon, Heero."

"Good afternoon, Lieutenant. Is there something I can do for you?"

Noin smiled enigmatically before locking the door behind her. "Oh, I think so."

Heero frowned. What was Noin planning? Had OZ finally grown tired of the "civilised" approach and now the Lieutenant was about to try more traditional information extraction techniques?

"So, what's the plan you're unveiling at dinner?"

"Take a look at the notes," the Gundam pilot said gesturing to the desk.

Noin undid the top button on her dress shirt before walking to the desk and picking up the notes. She looked around for a seat. "Oh, why don't we take a look at them together on this couch?"

Heero was unsure why he needed to be sitting next to Noin while she read his proposal.

"Please, it means I can use my indoor voice," Noin said as she patted the spot next to her on the couch.

No speaking at all would be best, but Heero knew that it was better to compromise on this than fight it tooth and nail. He wordless crossed the room to sit next to the Lieutenant.

"Hmm, so you're suggesting a gladiatorial combat to set rules. What kind of rules are you thinking of?"

"Until the mobile suit loses a head or is otherwise incapacitated," Heero answered. "It needn't be to the death, but every match would have its risks."

"Yes," Noin said. She licked her lips and cast a glance at the young man to her right. 'He's handsome…' "So, what kind of weapons are you suggesting?"

"Melee only," Heero answered. He looked at Noin and saw that she'd opened another button on her shirt. It revealed a little more of her cleavage. "It would make the duels last longer and be safer for everyone involved."

"So it's a case of beam sabres at dawn?"

The Gundam pilot shook his head. "Yes and no. Sure, there would be some beam sabre duels, but I was inspired by history."

"History?" Noin repeated, she reached over for another one of the pages Heero had written, allowing the young man to get another glimpse down her shirt.

"Yes," Heero said. "I learned that the gladiators of Ancient Rome didn't always fight with the same equipment. Some had armour and shields, while some had a net and trident. Different weapons and armour load-outs would make for a challenge as you worked out the limitations of every combination."

The Lieutenant nodded, Heero's idea seemed to be quite thoroughly thought out to her. It had the historical ties that would interest Treize, and the idea of duelling for the honour of a nation would appeal to Zechs. She give Heero a sultry look.

A look that the Gundam pilot completely missed.

"One option is that the pilots could draw lots for their mobile suits, so one could be armed with heavy armour facing one with greater mobility, but isn't as able to take as much damage," he said continuing with his proposal.

Noin frowned as Heero seemed immune to flirting like this. She coughed lightly. "Could you get me a glass of water, please?"

"Of course," Heero said, raising from the couch.

While his back was turned, Noin carefully placed the notes away from herself. It was necessary for her next move and Heero had worked hard on this proposal for Treize.

Heero handed the raven-haired woman the glass and she thanked him.

Noin took a sip and smiled at Heero before absently attempting to take another drink and spilling it down her shirt.

"Oh my, I've become rather clumsy," she said, thrusting the empty glass into Heero's hands. "I better get out of these wet clothes."

The Lieutenant quickly shed her shirt, revealing an expensive-looking black bra that seemed to be mostly made of a translucent, lace-like material. It was something that valued form over function, given that it barely supported Noin's breasts, while doing its utmost to make them look beautiful.

Heero blinked in surprise when he saw Noin continue to undress, taking off her boots, leggings and panties.

"Why are you taking off your underwear, Lieutenant?"

"They're the wettest item of all, Heero," Noin grinned before throwing the Gundam pilot on the bed and jumping on top of him.

[Edited to comply with site rules on adult content.]

"HEEEEERRROOOOOOO!"

'Mission complete,' Heero thought. Now he could turn his attention back to working on his proposal for Treize.

At least, that would have been the case, had Noin released him from her grip.

"Noin, are you going to let me go?" his words were muffled slightly by the Lieutenant's body. 'Impressive leg strength,' he noted.

"What was that?" she asked, releasing her grip on Heero and pulling him up so they were face to face and now using her arms to hold him close to her. She stared into his eyes. "Heero…"

"Are you going to let me go? I do need to finish this proposal for Treize," Heero said matter-of-factly.

He realised that although it was his best chance of escape his room would be to hope that he had a visitor who forgot to lock his door, allowing him to slip away as she lay in a post-coital slumber, the visitor would probably get into a lot of trouble. And even then, he still had to find his way out of the building without triggering any security.

"But I like spending time with you like this, Heero," Noin said as she gently stroked his hair.

"Please, Lieutenant, I need to finish this."

"Work with me, Heero," Noin pleaded. "Spending time with you like this… it makes me feel like I'm a normal person, not a soldier."

Heero frowned. His hidden repository of experience was telling him to do whatever he could to make Noin happy, but it warred with his previous orders to finish his proposal. The two instincts went back and forth through his mind, until a compromise was found and blurted out before he could realise what he was saying.

"If you let me finish this now, I'll fuck you however you want after dinner."

'Wait, I didn't mean to say that,' he thought upset with his sudden lapse of control.

"I'll hold you to that, Heero," the Lieutenant said, rolling over so she was now on top of Heero. She kissed him passionately on the mouth. "Remember that."

"I will," Heero said as he watched the raven-haired woman climb off him and adjust her bra. There was something about watching Noin that intrigued Heero. She wasn't the first naked woman he'd seen or even the first woman he'd been remotely intimate with.

And yet, he felt that Noin was a good woman. Maybe, just maybe, if they both got out of this war alive, he could settle down with her?

Heero shook his head. It was a foolish thought. Even if he did survive, what could he offer Noin as a civilian? He didn't have the wealth required sustain them, so he'd have to work and what work could he do that didn't involve destruction?

'Maybe this duelling thing could have a league instead of just being for international conflict resolution? It would be the best use of my skills and I might earn a living. I'll suggest this to Treize at dinner.'

Noin continued to dress herself, oblivious to Heero's thoughts about a potential post-war future. When she was ready, she turned to the Gundam pilot. "I'll see you at dinner, Heero," she winked before blowing him a kiss.

"Until dinner time, Noin."

* * *

It was dinner time when the next person to knock on Heero's door did so.

"Come in," the Gundam pilot said as he finished numbering the pages of notes for his proposal. He looked up to see Noin standing there smiling.

"Good evening, Heero. Are you ready for dinner?"

"I am," he replied as he gathered his notes. "I do hope you'll be able to stay for the entire meal this time."

"Oh, I'll be the one to escort you back to your room when we're done," Noin smiled knowingly. "Now, if you'll accompany me to the dining room."

"Of course, Lieutenant Noin," Heero bowed slightly.

The journey to the dining room was a silent one, much to Heero's approval. There was no attempt at small talk, no invasion of his personal space. There wasn't even so much as a sultry look from the Lieutenant.

That was something that could not have been said for Lady Une when the two walked into the dining room.

Zechs noticed that Lady Une seemed to have a hungry look on her face as she watched the Gundam pilot take his place at the table. 'She must have been working hard today.'

"Ah, I'm glad that we're all here," Treize smiled as he gestured for everyone to take their seats. "I believe that Heero has something he wanted to propose."

"Yes," Heero nodded as he reached for his water glass. He took a sip before starting his presentation. "Apologies for the notes, but I didn't have time to memorise them. Now, my suggestion was that once the peace has been won, any future conflicts cannot be resolved through diplomacy, would be resolved through another method."

The table looked intently at Heero.

"Taking page out of the history books, this other method would involved a ritualised combat, where nations would duel each other in mobile suits. Part trial by combat, part tourney from the Middle Ages," the Gundam pilot explained.

The starter course, a quail's egg dish, was brought out, slowing down Heero's proposal slightly. "It would involve people fighting for honour, while minimising the numbers killed in conflicts, either to two or even zero."

"Fighting for honour?" Treize repeated as he placed his knife and fork on the plate.

"Yes, there would be a noble class of mobile suit pilots for every nation that wished to take part in this scheme, where men and women risked their lives for a cause they believed in."

There was a thump that had no apparent source. Treize coughed but gestured for Heero to continued.

"Well, not only do you have the nations resolving conflicts like this, but you could also have noble houses or even an international league of mobile suit pilots fighting in a gladiatorial arena. Pitting themselves against other pilots in specialised mobile suits."

There was a second thump. This time it was Zechs' turn to cough. "Gladiatorial combat you say?"

"Yes. The fights would be to specific rules, the first mobile suit to lose its head if you can't move any more to stop people from being slaughtered. But even so, the pilots would be risking their lives every time they went out into the arena."

Une leaned forward after finishing her starter. "These mobile suits, what would they be armed with?"

"Ranged weapons are out of the question," Heero answered. "They're too dangerous for this, but this would be more than just beam sabres. I took some inspiration from Ancient Rome."

Treize's eyes bulged for a moment. "Ancient Rome, you say?"

"Yes. The gladiators paired up different weapon combinations. They wanted to see a lightly armoured man with a trident and a net fight someone with more armour and a sword and shield. I think that sort of thing would be more interesting."

Zechs smiled. He turned to Treize. "I think this idea requires further exploration."

And so, for the remaining courses, the diners discussed the relative merits of asymmetrical melee combat between mobile suits.

* * *

To be continued…

This chapter had a truncated scene because of this site's rules on adult content. If you are that desperate to read the full chapter, then you might be able to find it if you search hard enough. There is a clue in the description of this story.


	13. Part 13

Heero Sandwich

By Lord Raa

* * *

Disclaim-me-do: There's more to making a decent beer than just filling the mash with hops.

* * *

Part 13

* * *

The meal had been finished with a round of coffees to aid digestion. Despite the caffeine kick, Heero was feeling fatigued. It was a different kind of tiredness to what the Gundam pilot normally experienced. He'd spent a lot of time working on his proposal. Thankfully, Treize and Zechs seemed to approve of it, which meant that Noin and Une also looked favourably upon it.

Heero caught himself about to yawn and coughed. "I'm very sorry, but I'm a bit more tired than I was expecting. Would you mind if I turned in for the night?"

"Not at all, Heero," Treize smiled. "You've given us all a lot to think about. Would you mind leaving your notes? I'd like to look at some of the things you suggested again."

"Feel free," the Gundam pilot smiled.

"I'll escort Heero to his room and turn in myself," Noin said as she rose from the table. "Thank you for inviting us to dinner, Colonel Treize. Lady Une, Colonel Zechs."

The Colonels all bowed their heads at the departing pair and turned to each other to discuss certain aspects of Heero's plan.

* * *

The walk to Heero's room was a pleasant one, even though the two mobile suit pilots didn't speak a single word. Noin was beginning to understand that Heero was a quiet person, one who valued actions over words. It was somewhat refreshing, after hearing hours of rhetoric from the Romefeller hierarchy.

Heero tried the door to his room out of habit and found that it was locked. 'At least my room is secured while I'm not in it.'

"Allow me, Mr. Yuy," Noin said as she unlocked the door, but held it closed. "Now, I believe that you have to fulfil a promise you made earlier…"

The Gundam pilot nodded. He was actually tired, but he knew he could find the reserves of energy necessary to take care of Noin. "Have you decided how you want it?"

"Well, given that you made me wait, I thought I'd enjoy myself a little," the Lieutenant smirked. She opened the door and ushered Heero inside. After a quick look up and down the corridors, she followed suit.

After locking the door behind her, she strode purposefully up to where Heero was and pulled him in close for a kiss. Noin's left hand held the Gundam pilot close, while her right hand roamed across his taut body, eventually coming to rest on his firm butt.

She smiled at him when she broke the kiss. "So, how about we get naked and see where we go from there?"

"I like the sound of that," Heero replied, pulling Noin in for a kiss.

* * *

Noin woke to find herself alone in a bed that wasn't her own. She looked around, searching for clues as to her location. After a moment, she realised that she was in Heero's room.

"Heero?"

The Gundam pilot had gone somewhere. Had he been taken away for questioning?

No, they'd have woken her, if only to chastise her for her actions.

She slipped out from under the covers and started looking around. Heero wasn't in the en suite facilities. He couldn't get out the window and he wasn't hiding in the closet. There was only one place left for him to be.

Crouching down, Noin peered under the bed and saw that Heero was waking up.

"Heero?"

"Good morning, Noin."

The Lieutenant shook her head. "Why are you sleeping under the bed?"

"Because it's safer that way," Heero replied. He slid out into the open.

"What do you mean it's safer?"

"I mean for me. I'm used to people trying to kill me. Me hiding under the bed gives me a vital extra few seconds to react. It's saved my life on more than one occasion."

Noin sighed. Heero lived a special life. "Anyway, we need to shower before we go to breakfast. We'll go in together to save time."

"Are you sure? You will get excited if I start washing your breasts. You did last night when I was rubbing them, and I had to spend a lot of time on them. Not as much time as I had to spend between your thighs," Heero said. "It'll be quicker if you go in first."

Noin blushed as she couldn't fault her lover's logic. "Alright. I'll be as quick as I can."

As the raven-haired woman left to use the shower, Heero laid out their clothes on the bed. He made sure that he'd placed all of Noin's clothes in plain view. The Gundam pilot didn't need her thinking he was some kind of deviant who stole women's underwear.

'That's probably something Duo would do. He seems like that sort of person,' Heero mused. 'That said, she'll probably try to get me to take them as some kind of prize like Catherine or Relena did.'

* * *

At breakfast, Treize had a serious look on his face.

Noin saw this and was worried that he knew she'd spent the night with Heero. While yes, she had meant to spend time with Heero, it hadn't been her intention to be seduced by the Gundam pilot. She glanced over to see that Heero had neutral look on his face as he took his seat.

"Is something the matter, Colonel?" the Lieutenant asked.

"Yes, I've had a message from the Romefeller Foundation. They feel we've been stalling with the punishment of Colonel Zechs."

"Oh," Noin replied. She was conflicted: she was glad that she wasn't in trouble for being with Heero, but she was still concerned for Zechs' well-being. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Yes. I will be heading out to Paris with Colonel Zechs for his court-martial. I will be defending him, but I will require you to come with us as a witness," Treize said. "Were this matter entirely in my hands, this would be dealt with quickly and quietly."

"I am sorry for making you do this, Noin," Zechs said earnestly. "I feel that you should have a better role model than someone who abandons his orders to settle a personal vendetta from the battlefield."

Noin frowned. "You were an excellent role-model, Sir. Were it not for our friendly competition, we could not have reached the heights that we did."

"Even so, my dereliction of duty must be punished," the blonde man insisted. "If only to show others how not to behave."

"I understand why you rebuilt the Gundam 01, Sir, and in a way, I'm thankful."

"Thankful?" Zechs asked as he reached for his coffee.

"Well," Noin blushed as she tried to word her response in way that didn't refer to her time with Heero Yuy. "I mean that we've learned more about the technical capabilities of our enemies. And that we must be careful when dealing with the Romefeller Foundation."

"Indeed," Treize nodded. "Unfortunately, this court-martial means that we will have to leave you here, Heero."

The Gundam pilot sipped his coffee. "Any reason why that might be the case?"

"Our business is not yet concluded, Heero. We feel that it would be appropriate to enlist your help with the design of the duelling suits. Perhaps even have you compete in a league."

Heero looked thoughtful as he considered the proposal. It had merit, as he felt he could bring his combat experience to the design process. It would be an interesting challenge to bring the ancient world's gladiatorial combat styles to the modern age. 'Plus I would have a job once this war was over… However, I cannot abandon my mission so easily.'

"I cannot make any promises about being here when you return, Colonel Treize. I have my own mission to accomplish. If peace were declared, then that would be a different matter."

"Do you require my presence on this journey, Colonel Treize?" Une asked.

"No, I think you would be best placed to keep an eye on Heero. Once I have dealt with Zechs' legal matter, I will return and then I will have another mission for you."

"Oh?" the brunette asked.

"I will brief you on your mission later."

* * *

A short while later, Noin, Treize and Zechs were all on their way to Paris.

Heero was slightly bored now. The conversations with Treize and Zechs about warfare had been interesting, and the proposal about duelling had been quite enticing.

Even when those conversations had finished, there had been the time spent with Noin.

'She is a good woman,' the Gundam pilot decided.

She was a good match for him. She had a keen mind, she was beautiful, she understood what it meant to be a soldier and she was mature. Sure, there had been the sex thing, but at least she hadn't acted like Relena.

Heero shuddered involuntarily at the thought of his stalker finding him here.

He thought about the three women he'd slept with. He'd not hated the intimacy with any them, just disliked some of the circumstances surrounding his meeting them.

"Duo would rank them in how good the sex was," Heero mused. That sort of behaviour felt wrong, like he was some kind of Lothario.

But if this war was to end tomorrow and he was no longer required to fight, would there be one who he wanted spend the rest of his days with?

Life with Relena would be painful. Sure, there would be no shortage of food or other necessities, but that would be tempered with life with Relena.

Catherine was a much nicer person than Relena, but the idea of travelling with the circus didn't hold a great deal of appeal to him.

Noin understood him the best.

If he had to choose one of them, Lucrezia Noin would be the one he picked.

'Of course, that assumes she would want to spend her life with me,' the Gundam pilot mused.

This sudden and apparent desire for stability confused Heero. He stood looking out of the window, hoping for some kind of answer to appear from thin air, when there was a knock on the door.

He turned to see two armed guards enter the room.

"Please come with us, there are some questions that people would like you to answer."

"Are they 'does this hurt?' and 'how about now?'"

"I wouldn't think so," the lead soldier replied. "Colonel Treize despises brutality."

"He's not here," Heero countered. He saw the guards' expressions darken. "Tell me who wants to ask me questions and I'll come quietly."

"Lady Une."

"Lead the way."

* * *

Heero was surprised that he wasn't being taken to a small room in the basement, but rather a more elegant room at the top of the building.

'Doesn't look like I'm not going to be tortured in this room,' he noted when he saw the room's expensive furniture.

"Ah, Heero, I'm glad that you were willing to join us," Lady Une said as she entered the room with a tray holding a silver coffee pot, three cups, cream and sugar. "Thank you, gentlemen, your presence will not be necessary."

"But your safety, Lady Une! A Gundam pilot is a dangerous individual."

"Heero, are you going to hurt me?" the bespectacled woman asked, turning towards the teenager.

"Don't know, I can't see into the future," Heero answered. "But that's not my plan for today. Of course, I don't know what you're planning to ask me."

Une smiled. "See, Heero has no plans to hurt me."

"…"

"I will not be alone with Heero, I have someone else here."

"We meet again, Mr. Yuy," a woman said as she entered the room behind the guards.

"Sally Po?"

"I'm flattered that you remembered me, Heero," Sally smiled. "I have a number of questions for you."

"You can ask any question you like, but I make no guarantees as to the quality of any answer you receive," Heero said. He took a seat. "So, shall we begin?"

As the guards were ushered out by Lady Une, Sally poured three cups of coffee from the silver pot. She handed one to Heero. "Black, no sugar, right?"

"Yes," the Gundam pilot confirmed as he took the cup. "I've not seen you for a while, Sally. What brings you to OZ?"

"You."

Heero frowned. He wasn't sure he liked the sound of that.

Une returned from locking the door and took her cup of coffee. "Don't be like that, Heero. We're not here to hurt you or make your life a misery."

"Then why are you here?"

"I wanted to know you better, Heero. Ever since I first saw you in that hospital, I've been thinking about you. What can you tell me about yourself?"

The Gundam pilot took a sip of coffee. It was good, like all of the food and drink had been here. "Not a lot. Some of the things that I've done are classified. As for my parents… I don't really remember them."

"Oh," Sally said sadly. "I was hoping to learn more about your lineage. You see, the medical records from your time in the hospital suggested that you were quite special."

Une took up the next part. "It has been suggested that you're the product of genetic engineering."

"I wouldn't know," Heero replied. "But I'm not aware of any such programmes in the Colonies."

"Genetic engineering and manipulation are illegal, but is there a chance that you were selectively bred?"

"That's possible, but again, I wouldn't know. I've been too busy learning how to be the best soldier I can, not studying the past." Heero drank more of his coffee. "Surely there would be markers to show that there has been some manipulation to my DNA. A test would prove things one way or the other."

"We'll take a DNA sample later," Sally smiled knowingly. "With your consent, of course."

"If that's what you want," the teenager shrugged. "You're being very forward."

"Oh, it's just that we thought that you'd appreciate the direct approach. You always seemed like a no nonsense type of person," Une replied.

Heero was beginning to get a weird feeling from these two women. They weren't unattractive, but they were clearly planning something. Experience was teaching him to be cautious of women who planned things.

Relena was the sort of person who planned things and she was a lot of trouble.

"You've tensed up, Heero. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable," Sally said apologetically. "This is a conversation, not an interrogation. If you want to ask either of us a question, then go ahead."

Heero finished his coffee. "All things being equal, what are your plans for me?"

Sally had the grace to look slightly embarrassed as she answered. "I would take you away from this war. It wouldn't be much, but it would be a simple life, living off the land in a homestead and raising a family with me."

"A family? With you?"

"I want to have your children, Heero Yuy, ever since you saved the New Edwards base from those missiles," the ex-Alliance Major said, her infatuation with the pilot coming to the fore.

Heero turned to Lady Une. "And you?"

"Well, I… my desires are irrelevant," the Colonel insisted weakly. "But if you wanted something from me, I'm not sure I could deny you…"

"Thank you for the coffee," the Gundam pilot said, placing his cup on the tray. "But I must be going."

'I'm going to lose him if I'm not careful,' Sally thought nervously. "I'm sorry, Heero, I just thought that you would appreciate the direct approach. You were always so straightforward."

Une placed her cup on the tray, turning away from the young pilot. As she turned back, her shirt had opened slightly, allowing a glimpse of her bra. Treize's words about being more elegant had clearly been taken to heart and the garment was one of high fashion and excellent quality.

Heero blinked in surprise when Une continued to undress, taking off her shirt. "What are you doing, Lady-"

His question was cut off by Sally kissing him, her tongue playing with his. When she broke the kiss, he could see that Sally's eyes were filled with a look that Heero was becoming increasingly familiar with.

During this distraction, Une had stripped down to her underwear. It was a fine set of lingerie, a matching set in a shade of light purple that gave it an exotic, almost imperial look. She stepped over to where the Gundam pilot was sitting and placed a hand on his thigh.

"Are you sure that you have to be going?"

Heero's gaze swept over every detail of Lady Une as she leaned over him. From the curves of her shapely thighs and hips, to the buns that contained most of her hair to the generous cleavage that was being offered up to him.

He knew that he should get out of there. That things were going to get complicated. That his mission was going to be delayed further. That his unknown source of knowledge and experience of women was coming ever closer to the surface.

The pilot turned to look away from the half-naked Une, only to see that Sally was now completely naked and advancing upon him.

"Heero…" she purred. "Please…"

Heero closed his eyes took a deep breath. When he opened them, he gave the two women a smirk. "Since I'm outnumbered, clearly I have no choice."

The Gundam pilot pulled Sally in for a kiss, his strong hands roaming across her body.

The Major moaned softly into Heero's mouth as his fingers teased her pussy.

Heero turned to face Une. "Take off your glasses and let your hair down. I want to see the real Lady Une."

Une did as she was told, shaking her hair to let down her brown locks. "What do you think?"

"That I need a bed to make sure that such an elegant beauty is properly taken care of," the young man said smiling knowingly, his fingers still teasing the Po's womanhood. "Oh, what's this here in this room?"

"That would be the bed I had made up for just this situation," Une said as she closed the distance between her and the Gundam pilot. She kissed him, her tongue wrestling with his. After a minute she broke the kiss and breathlessly asked, "So why are you still clothed, Heero?"

Heero smiled before releasing Sally. It took him three seconds to get naked. "This is why I wear simple clothes."

* * *

To be continued…

Another truncated chapter, simply because of site rule about pornography. Still, if you like your questing questionable or able to use the a search engine for "The Fanfiction Forum" you might be able able to find a more complete version of this and all the other smutty chapters.

Or you could just read this here. What do I care what you do with your time?


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